Sunday World 2

AL in dilemma over mayoral candidature for Rajshahi,Sylhet

Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

The Awami League is in a dilemma over nominating mayoral candidates for the Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporation polls as the party and the combine partners have more than one candidates for the posts. The party along with the allies have already confirmed candidates for the mayoral posts for the Khulna and Barisal city corporation polls. It will decide on the candidates for the polls to Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporations by July 12, a day before the last date for candidature withdrawal. The polls to the four city corporations and nine municipalities are scheduled for August 4. The Awami League on June 27 decided to contest the local government elections along with its alliance partners under banner of Nagarik Committee as the elections to the local bodies are non-partisan and the combine led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party decided to boycott the polls. The Awami League is now in trouble in choosing mayoral candidates for Rajshahi and Sylhet as the combine have more than one candidates for the posts along with some rebel candidates. Eighteen Awami League leaders have submitted nomination papers for the mayoral posts of four city corporations. Four of them submitted nomination papers for the Khulna mayoral post. They are city AL president Talukdar Abdul Khaleque, city AL general secretary Mijanur Rahman Mijan, joint secretary Mallik Abid Hossain Kabir and city committee member Enayet Ali. Four of them submitted nominations for Barisal mayoral post. They are city AL convener Shawkat Hossain Hiron, city AL joint convener Alamgir Khan Alo, district AL joint secretary Rejaul Huq Harun and Juba League leader Masidul Huq Khan Mamun. The Awami League has already decided to give the combine ticket to Talukdar Abdul Khaleque for the Khulna mayoral post and Shawkat Hossain Hiron for the Barisal mayoral post. Three of the leaders submitted nominations for the Rajshahi mayoral post. They are city AL president Maksudul Haque Dulu and general secretary AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, and central Juba League leader Nasir Ahmed Babul. Fazle Hossain Badsha, a member on the Workers Party politburo, also submitted nomination paper for the Rajshahi mayoral post. The combine is in a dilemma in choosing one from among Liton and Badsha as its candidate for the position of the Rajshahi mayor. Awami League leaders at its central working committee meeting on July 1 recommended that the high up in the party should nominate Liton as the candidate for the Rajshahi mayoral post. The combine led by the Awami League earlier selected Badsha to contest the suspended January 22, 2007 national elections for the Rajshahi 2 (sadar) constituency when Liton was assured of being nominated as the mayoral candidate in Rajshahi. Now Liton is laying his claim to the combine ticket for the mayoral post, but a meeting between the Awami League and the Workers Party on June 28 decided in principle to nominate Badsha as the mayoral candidate as he is a popular leader in the north. The combine leaders will sit for talks in a few days to solve the matter as the alliance wants to keep united at any cost. Seven Awami League leaders submitted nominations for the Sylhet mayoral post, making a win for the combine difficult with all the candidates remaining in the election fray. The aspirants are detained mayor Badar Uddin Kamran, central Awami League advisory council member Dewan Farid Gazi, Sylhet district general secretary Iftekhar Hossain Shamim, city unit general secretary Mejbah Uddin Siraj, district unit vice-president Abduz Zahir Chowdhury Sufian, former lawmaker Enamul Haque Chowdhury and former upazila council chairman Babrul Hossain Babul. If Karman’s nomination is not cancelled in scrutiny, scheduled during July 6–7, he will stand as the combine candidate for the mayoral post. But if Kamran becomes disqualified, the combine might nominate Babrul or Dewan for the post, party sources said. The Awami League’s central working committee will resolve all the disputes over the mayoral candidature at a meeting which take place on July 12.

Delwar reaffirms BNPstance on dialogue

Staff Correspondent

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has reaffirmed its strong stance on dialogue and elections, making its participation conditional on having its demands, including the release of party chief Khaleda Zia, met. ‘We want to participate in the dialogue and the elections too, but congenial atmosphere has to be created first,’ BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said on Saturday, two days after the Awami League had joined the dialogue with the interim government. ‘Our stand is clear. The dialogue has to be aimed only at holding free and fair national polls and nothing else,’ he told reporters at his Sher-e-Bangla Nagar residence. He reminded the interim government of its constitutional mandate. ‘But they are walking along a different path, which does not reflect their good will for handing over power to people’s representatives through free and fair polls.’ Delwar said the party would consider joining the dialogue only after a favourable atmosphere and a positive impression were created for a dialogue only aimed at holding parliamentary elections. He referred to the demands for releasing BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami to pave the way for both the parties to join the dialogue. ‘Only then we can expect that a ground will be created for free, fair and acceptable polls with participation of all parties,’ Delwar said. Delwar gave a cold shoulder to the proposal of the party’s pro-government faction for a formal discussion on unity and advised the faction leaders to scrap the October 2007 meeting decisions to create ground for their return to the mainstream party. Earlier on the day, acting secretary general of the party’s splinter group, M Hafiz Uddin Ahmed stressed the need for unity in the party and expressed his readiness to forget about the October meeting. Hafiz opposed the government’s plan to hold upazila election before the parliamentary polls, but said he had no objection to elections to lower local government bodies like union parishads. BNP’s youth front Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal Saturday announced a fresh action programme to press for their seven-point demands including release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami. The programmes include forming a human chain in front of the special jail on the Jatiya Sangsad complex on July 7, forming human chains on July 10 in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet and exchanging views with district and divisional level representatives from July 20 to 30. Their other demands include release of former Juba Dal president Mirza Abbas, its general secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal.