Jamaat-led 11-party alliance announces candidates for 253 seats

The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party electoral alliance has announced candidates for 253 parliamentary constituencies as part of a seat-sharing arrangement.

The announcement was made at a press conference held after 9pm on Thursday at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in Dhaka.

Speaking on behalf of the alliance, Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher outlined the distribution of seats among the coalition partners.

Under the arrangement, Jamaat will contest in 179 seats, the National Citizen Party (NCP) 30 seats, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis 20 seats, Khelafat Majlis 10 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seven seats, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) three seats, Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party two seats, and the Bangladesh Development Party two seats.

Seat allocations for the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JGP) and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon have not yet been finalised.

The issue of seat-sharing with Islami Andolan Bangladesh also remains undecided, the alliance said.

Leaders of Islami Andolan Bangladesh did not attend the media briefing, forcing coalition leaders to wait for nearly 45 minutes before proceeding with the announcement.

Earlier in the day, alliance leaders held an emergency meeting without Islami Andolan Bangladesh, after failing to reach a consensus on seat-sharing.

Leaders of Islami Andolan also stayed away from that meeting due to disagreements over the distribution of constituencies.

The meeting was held at Jamaat’s central office with leaders of the 10 parties. Discussions focused on allocating 250 parliamentary seats among coalition partners, 50 seats were kept open, pending Islami Andolan’s stance.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh has announced that it will hold its own briefing at 3pm on Friday to clarify its position on the alliance.

The party’s publicity secretary KM Shariatullah confirmed the event in a media statement, saying the briefing would take place at the party’s office in Purana Paltan.