JaPa expects strong showing in 40-70 seats: Shameem Haider

Jatiya Party (JaPa) Secretary General Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary on Sunday said his party is confident of performing strongly in 40 to 70 seats if the upcoming national election is held in a fair environment with a level playing field, reports UNB.

"The voting field is very fluid. If there is a fair vote and a level playing field, I think the Jatiya Party will do very well in 40 to 70 seats," he said, while talking to reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city as he went there to attend hearings on appeals filed by JaPa candidates.

The Jatiya Party leader said this time there will be two sharp parties in the voting field.

Describing Jatiya Party as a pro-Liberation War force, he said despite its pro-liberation stance, the party had also declared Islam as the state religion during the tenure of former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad and introduced Friday as the weekly holiday. "So, the Jatiya Party can get votes from the Islamists as well," he said.

Patwary expressed concern over the large number of nomination papers rejected on silly grounds, saying many candidates were deprived due to minor mistakes. The returning officers cancelled so many nomination papers fearing mobocracy and the politics of tagging.

"I believe they were afraid of mob pressure. The mob culture has dominated returning officers. They could have corrected mistakes and allowed nominations, but fear of being immediately labelled or branded prevented them from doing so," he said. He welcomed the role of the Appellate Tribunal (the Election Commission), saying it had reviewed nomination appeals with an open mind and restored many candidacies, which he described as a positive sign.