JP seeks consensus with AL over seat-sharing

The main opposition in parliament, Jatiya Party, last night requested the ruling Awami League to reach a consensus with them over seat-sharing for the January 7 polls.

A JP delegation made the request in a meeting with an AL team at a house in the capital's Gulshan, meeting sources told The Daily Star.

JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu and Senior Co-chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud and AL leaders Jahangir Kabir Nanak, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, and Mirza Azam were present.

Chunnu refused to reveal the outcome of the meeting last night.

He, however, told The Daily Star he would brief reporters about the meeting outcome at the JP chairman's Banani office today.

Hanif told The Daily Star that the JP leaders wanted to have AL's assurance that the government would play a neutral role during the election and extend all kinds of cooperation towards the Election Commission for holding the polls in a free and fair manner.

"We have assured them of a free, fair, and neutral election," he said.

The AL leader, however, claimed that the JP delegation did not discuss seat-sharing.

JP insiders said they demanded that the AL does not field candidates in 30 to 35 constituencies to let JP leaders have a walk in the park on January 7.

After the meeting, several co-chairmen of the JP sat at the home of a party leader in Gulshan-2 to decide their next course of action.

The insiders said the JP might withdraw from the race at the last moment if it finds it difficult to ensure victory for top JP leaders.

In the 2018 national election, the AL did not field any candidate in 26 constituencies to allow JP candidates to have easier wins. The JP nominees won in 21 of them.

JP candidates had lost their security deposits in all 145 constituencies where both AL and JP nominees ran.

This time, the AL has fielded candidates in almost all constituencies where JP nominees are also running.