To welcome like-minded political parties
Preparations being made to name the alliances
Preparations are underway to form at least two pro-government coalitions, led by some religion-based parties who are inspired by the spirit of the Liberation War, within the next month.
The alliances would welcome like-minded political parties, sources said.
One of the alliances is led by former member of parliament MA Awal and another by Syed Saifuddin Ahmad Al Hasani. Preparations are being made to name the alliances and formulate the declarations, their top leaders said while talking to Bangla Tribune.
Earlier, they attempted to forge a combined alliance under the leadership of MP MA Awal, Maulana Bahadur Shah, Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury, and Syed Saifuddin Ahmad Al Hasani in May of this year. However, this alliance did not see the light of day due to leadership and other issues.
Misbahur Rahman, chief of Bangladesh Islami Oikya Jote (BIOJ), wanted the position of spokesman or coordinator of the integrated alliance in addition to being the chairman. Maulana Bahadur Shah could not accept this matter. Besides, the chairman of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), MA Awal, who has played a leading role in the process since the beginning of the formation of the alliance, was supposed to be placed in an important position. Awal did not accept the proposal to make him the co-chairman and withdrew from the process.
Several IDP leaders said that since last May, party Chairman Awal started the process of forming an alliance with at least 15 religion-based parties. He held meetings with the Islamic and like-minded parties close to the Awami League regarding the formation of the alliance.
“Our alliance formation process is almost at the end and the last minute preparations are underway. We will announce the alliance officially,” IDP Secretary General Advocate Nurul Islam Khan told Bangla Tribune.
According to sources, on Thursday, Awal sat with the secretary general of the newly-registered Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM), Major (Retd) Hanif. However, no one could say anything about whether BNM would be in the alliance.
Awal’s alliance has so far gotten the support of the Nezam Islam Party (Maulana Harishul Haque), Bangladesh Tarikat Front (Mufti Mehedi Hasan Bulbul), a faction of the Gono-Azadi League, the Gono Odhikar Party, and several other parties and organizations.
Regarding the new alliance, former MP Awal said: “We are taking forward the work of creating a united platform with Islamist and like-minded parties in view of the upcoming elections. It is the responsibility of the government to conduct participatory elections for everyone. It is also the responsibility of the opposition parties to participate in the elections. We are trying to announce our alliance soon.”
He added: “Foreign interference is seen ahead of the election. But calling foreigners for elections means belittling the people of the country. This matter must be considered seriously.”
Another coalition of Islamists is coming soon, ahead of the upcoming elections. It will have at least six parties led by the newly registered Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) of Syed Saifuddin Maizbhandari. The other parties are Bangladesh Islami Oikya Jote (Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury), Krishak Sramik Janata Party (Farhanaz Haque), Ashekane Awliya Parishad (Alam Noori Sureshwari), and Janadal (Mahbubur Rahman). More than one party may join the alliance, sources said.
Misbahur Rahman spoke to Bangla Tribune about the progress of forming the new alliance.
“We hope that the announcement of our alliance will come very quickly. We selected 8-10 teams and shortlisted six of them. The chairman of our alliance is Syed Saifuddin Ahmad Al Hasani. I will work as the executive chairman,” he added, refusing to comment on the conflict with IDP Chairman Awal.
When asked about this, Awal said: “Conspiracies are underway at home and abroad ahead of the elections. In this situation, the real work is to advance the strength of the supporters of the Liberation War. It is not important who will form an alliance or party here.”
Incidentally, even before the 2018 elections, Awal formed an alliance supported by the Awami League. Misbahur Rahman was the chairman of that alliance, while Awal was the co-chairman. Awal later formed the Islamic Democratic Party with 11 parties from that alliance.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.