Alongside confirming its own candidates, the BNP is expediting seat-sharing deals with right, left, moderate and liberal democratic parties as part of preparations to contest the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad election, reports UNB.
Since BNP has already announced it would form a national government, if elected, senior leaders said they are ready to share enough seats with allies depending on their competence, experience, acceptability and popularity.
The party has already asked its allies who have been involved in the anti-fascist movement for the past 15 and a half years to submit lists of potential candidates, said a BNP Standing Committee member, wishing not to be named.
He said the party's standing committee meeting on Tuesday night discussed finalising nominations with allied partners as soon as possible, aiming to remove uncertainties over candidates and constituenciesand allow campaign activities to begin.
The BNP leader said they will soon start formal discussions with the alliance partners of the anti-Awami League simultaneous movement on forming an electoral alliance.
He said the party high command is evaluating its allies' potential candidates based on their ability to win, qualifications and popularity, and likely rivals.
The BNP leader said they want to complete seat-sharing talks with the like-minded parties by October and then instruct its leaders and workers in those constituencies to work together with the allies.
Another BNP Standing Committee member said they have already sent messages to party leaders and workers in some constituencies where seat- sharing with alliance partners has been finalised.
He said they want to include more groups, including National Citizen Party and other Islamic and left-leaning parties, in its alliance, with negotiations continuing until the election schedule is announced.
The BNP leader said initially, 42 parties joined the simultaneous movement with BNP, and later another 10 came on board. "In total, leaders of 52-53 parties have marched with us on the streets and faced jail. We will duly recognise their contributions."
The BNP leader, however, said they will be very cautious in sharing seats with alliance partners, noting that under the new RPO, these parties will no longer be able to contest the election with BNP's symbol, the 'Sheaf of Paddy', as they did in the past.
For those allies who cannot be nominated, he said, BNP will recognise their contributions in other ways "For instance, if some senior leaders are unable to contest elections due to age or other reasons, the BNP will assure them that, if it forms government, they will be considered for positions as technocrat ministers or seats in the upper house."
The BNP leader said they are aware that Jamaat-e-Islami has already announced candidates for all 300 constituencies and started preparations and large-scale campaigning in advance.
"Jamaat is a hardline right-wing cadre-based party, whereas BNP is a liberal democratic party. Even though Jamaat has finalised single candidates in every constituency, we see no problem with it since Jamaat hardly has any popular candidates. But BNP has three or four nomination seekers in nearly every seat, many of them popular locally. That is why BNP cannot announce candidates in all constituencies before the official election schedule, as doing so could trigger divisions and grouping," he said.
The BNP leader said they have already directed around 150 prospective candidates to begin working in their constituencies. "These heavyweight leaders were traditionally allotted those seats in the past as well. For the remaining 150 seats, we will decide after careful scrutiny whether to field our own candidates or allocate them to allies."
He, however, said although many candidates have received preliminary green signals, this does not constitute final nomination. "BNP will form a Parliamentary Board to finalise nominations, and that board will make the ultimate decisions."
The BNP leader said they are collecting details on potential candidates from local leaders and also carrying out surveys to find the most suitable and popular ones. "We plan to complete the informal selection of both the party and alliance candidates by next month."
BNP sources said Liaison Committee members Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud have been tasked with liaising with left-leaning and some democratic parties, while Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdul Awal Mintu, and Borakotulla (Bulu) are handling talks with Islamist and other parties.
Contacted, BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said they have held preliminary discussions with alliance partners. "We will follow up with another round to structure it properly. Those who participated in the anti-fascist movement will be properly recognised and our party is very positive about them."
When asked how many seats the allies are seeking, he said, "They have many demands. They want a lot of seats. But we will decide after reviewing all the field surveys. Our responsible leaders are studying on the ground to determine in which constituency nominating whom can ensure victory."
Responding to another question, he said BNP's candidates in around 100-150 seats are already settled. "That means each of these constituencies has one candidate. Work is going on in the seats where there are multiple aspirants."
Another BNP Standing Committee and Liaison Committee member, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, told the news agency that they will carefully evaluate the partners of their simultaneous movement and like-minded parties, not only through sharing seats but in many other ways.
He said they will soon hold both formal and informal discussions with the alliance partners to understand their preferences and potential candidates. "We will then finalise seat-sharing with them."
Khosru, however, declined to comment on the number of seats that may be allocated to alliance partners.
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