Shawdesh Desk:

The deadline for aspirant candidates to submit nomination papers for the upcoming general election on January 7 ends today amid the boycott of major opposition parties and chaos over seat sharing among parties of the ruling alliance.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and like-minded parties, including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dla-JSD, Liberal Democratic Party, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, Islami Andolon Bangladesh, are now agitating on the streets, demanding the cancellation of the election schedule and the resignation of the ruling Awami League government, handing power to a poll-time caretaker government.

BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and Ganatantra Mancha are among the parties to observe a dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal today for the demands.

The Left Democratic Alliance, a coalition of six political parties, will hold a procession in Dhaka carrying a black flag today to protest against the election schedule.

Terming the schedule as ‘unilateral’, the alliance said that it would hold a rally in front of the National Press Club on Thursday at 4:00pm, before holding the black flag procession.

The partners of the LDA are the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the Socialist Party of Bangladesh, the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), the Revolutionary Communist League, the Democratic Revolutionary Party, and the Bangladesher Samajtantrik Party.

Against the backdrop, partners of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance started filing nomination papers, and they would continue it today, hoping to resolve the issue of seat sharing before the last withdrawal date on December 17.

Speaking about seat sharing with alliance partners, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said it would depend on negotiation with the respective parties.

‘The most important thing is whether you are capable of winning or not,’ he said.

Rashed Khan Menon, the president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, a partner of the AL-led alliance,  told New Age that his party was submitting nomination papers in 42 constituencies and that he was hopeful of resolving the seat-sharing issue soon.

Hasanul Haque Inu, president of another alliance partner, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, said that they were now filing nomination papers as party candidates and that the electoral symbol-sharing issue would be resolved by December 17.

Jasad declared that it would contest for 181 seats.

AL-led alliance partner Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal general secretary Dilip Barua told New Age that he did not see any problem with the delay in making decisions over seat sharing with AL.

‘The decision would come before December 17, and all issues would be resolved,’ he said.

During the past general election held in 2018, the AL fielded candidates in 261 seats and refrained from participating in 26 seats in favour of the Jatiya Party, five seats in favour of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, three each in favour of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod and Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, and one each in favour of the Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Jatiya Party-JP.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Front submitted an application to the Election Commission on Wednesday requesting to extend the deadline for filing nomination papers by seven more days, keeping the voting day unchanged.

BNF is known as one of the King’s Parties, having participated in the controversial 2014 general election, boycotted by most opposition parties, including the BNP.

In that election, little-known BNF president Abul Kalam Azad was elected lawmaker from the Dhaka-17 Jatiya Sangsad seat.