Awami League to offer 36 seats to Jatiya Party
Sources say HM Ershad’s party is okay with the ruling party’s decision
The Awami League-led alliance is likely to offer 36 seats to Jatiya Party (JaPa) to have its candidates contest in the upcoming general election, sources say.
Multiple media reports earlier had suggested that JaPa was seeking at least 51 seats from the ruling party.
Both numbers are lower than what the Awami League had offered JaPa, which is led by former military dictator HM Ershad, in the last general polls.
In the 2014 election, which was boycotted by BNP, Awami League had won 234 seats after nominating candidates in 247 constituencies, while JaPa contested in 86 seats and won in 34, becoming the current main opposition party in parliament in the process.
However, a source from the ruling party top brass on Sunday said: “This time, Awami League has offered to share only 36 seats with JaPa.”
“Awami League has also been able to convince JaPa to accept the seat sharing proposal,” said the source.
Meanwhile, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said that they would announce on Monday how many seats the ruling alliance will share with JaPa this time around.
On Saturday, JaPa Secretary General ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader had said that he hoped their party would get a good number of seats from the ruling party to contest the in the 11th general polls, now slated for December 30.
His remarks had come after a meeting with Quader at Awami League’s Bangabandhu Avenue office.
In the 2008 election, Awami League had won 230 seats and JaPa 27 after they had nominated 264 and 49 candidates, respectively.
