Candidates to be announced for 47 vacant seats in a day or two: Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair

Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair.

The 10-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will finalize its candidacies for the 47 vacant seats in a day or two. Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair confirmed the matter at a press conference at the party office in Moghbazar on Sunday (January 18) afternoon.

He said that since the Islamic Andolan did not join the alliance, the candidacies of the 10 parties will be finalized within today or tomorrow. In addition, a joint election manifesto of the 10 parties is also being considered.

The Jamaat Assistant Secretary General said that the election campaign of the 10 parties will start from Dhaka on January 22. The campaign will end by February 10.
Earlier, on Thursday night (January 15), a press conference was held to announce the final seat-sharing agreement between the 10 parties in the Jamaat-led alliance, excluding the Islamic Movement. Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher announced the seat-sharing agreement at the press conference that day.

He said at the press conference that the 10-party agreement has been finalized for a total of 253 seats. Out of these, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will contest from 179 seats in the election. In addition, the National Citizen Party (NCP) will contest from 30 seats. In addition, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis will contest from 20 seats, Khilafat Majlis from 10 seats and LDP from 7 seats.

On the other hand, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will contest from 7 seats, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) from 3, Bangladesh Development Party (BDP) from 2 and Nezam Islam Party from 2 seats.

However, the day after the final seat agreement between the 10 parties, Islami Andolan Bangladesh announced in a press conference on Friday (January 16) afternoon that it would withdraw from the alliance and contest the elections on its own. At the press conference, the party's senior joint secretary general and spokesperson, Gazi Ataur Rahman, said that Islami Andolan Bangladesh would not participate in the elections with the 11 parties. None of the party's nomination papers would be withdrawn, and it would contest elections on its own in 268 seats.

In addition, at the press conference that day, Islami Andolan Bangladesh also said that it would support honest and qualified candidates who are in line with the party's principles and ideals in the remaining 32 seats.