Awami League picked 50 new faces, 38 MPs out

The ruling Awami League picked around 50 new faces to run for the upcoming parliamentary polls and dropped 38 MPs as it handed out nomination letters to its aspirants for 248 constituencies yesterday.

The party said it has kept some 70 seats for allies including Jatiya Party, the main opposition in the current parliament. The final decision may come today.

The party had earlier announced that it would nominate own candidates for 230 seats. Nomination letters were distributed yesterday for 18 other constituencies for “strategic reasons”, sources say.

The selections came as a shock to many as some 38 incumbent lawmakers, including AL joint general secretaries Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, and organising secretaries AFM Bahauddin Nasim and BM Mozammel Haque, were left out apparently due to controversy and internal feuds.

Awami League final Nomination list

Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, AL presidium member and deputy leader of the House, was not given any nomination letter yesterday. But none got the party ticket for her constituency Faridpur-2.

Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya is another presidium member to be denied nomination. His brother Swapan Bhattacharya secured ticket for Jessore-5, from where he won the last general election as an independent candidate defeating the AL nominee.

Former deputy speaker Col (retd) Shawkat Ali and former state minister Rahmat Ali, both sitting lawmakers, were not given the party ticket mainly considering their old-age complications.

Their sons looked to replace them in their constituencies in Gazipur and Shariatpur but to no avail.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who was elected from Sylhet-1 in the last two parliamentary elections, is not in the race this time, creating the opportunity for his brother Dr AK Abdul Momen to run from the constituency.

Arif Khan Joy, deputy minister for youth and sports, was also denied party ticket.

Former AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam was given the nomination for Kishoreganj-1 but keeping Mashiur Rahman Humayun as the backup candidate. Ashraf, also the minister for public administration, has been sick for quite a long time.

The party gave nomination letters to multiple aspirants each in eight constituencies, including Dhaka-5, Dhaka-7, Patuakhali-2 and Chandpur-1.

It will finalise the candidates by December 9, the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers. The last date for filing nomination papers to returning officers is November 28.

Around a dozen controversial minsters and lawmakers, including Shajahan Khan, Shamim Osman and Nizamuddin Hazari got tickets while some others were dropped.

The party began distribution of nomination letters around 10:30am, with AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader collecting the papers for party chief Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina will stand for the polls from Gopalganj-3 and Rangpur-6, from where she contested the 2014 election.

Throughout the day yesterday, a huge number of leaders and activists gathered in front of the party headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue.

The AL high-command had to face an uphill task to pick candidates from 4,000 nomination seekers for 300 seats in the December 30 polls.

Talking to reporters at AL central office at 7:45pm, Abdus Sobhan Golap, office secretary of the party, said the party has distributed nomination to aspirants for 248 seats.

Earlier in the afternoon, at a press conference at the party chief's Dhanmondi office, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said they collected signatures of the candidates on withdrawal letters as well as well on the nomination papers.

According to Quader, some 70 seats will be set aside for the party's alliance partners and there will be a formal announcement around 3:30pm today.

"I know how many seats will be kept for the alliance partners, but I will not disclose it now. A formal announcement will be made tomorrow [today]. But the seats for allies will be no more than 70," he said.

NEW PICKS

National team cricketer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and silver screen star Akbar Hossain Pathan, popularly known as Farooque, got the party ticket for Narail-2 and Dhaka-17 respectively.

Additionally, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda's nephew Shahjada Saju (Patuakhali-3), former AL general secretary Abdul Jalil's son Nizam Uddin Jalil (Noagaon-5), former mayor of Chattogram City Corporation ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury's son Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Noufel (Chattogram-9), wife of FBCCI former president Matlub Ahmad, entrepreneur Selima Ahmed (Cumilla-2), former inspector general of police Nur Mohammad (Kishoreganj-2), PM's Assistant Press Secretary Saifuzzaman Shekhor (Magura-1), and former chairman of the National Board of Revenue Golam Hossain also got the nomination letters yesterday.

AL incumbent MP Sheikh Helal Uddin got the letter for Bagerhat-1 and his son Sheikh Sarhan Naser for Bagerhat-2.

Helal's brother Sheikh Jewel also got ticket to contest from Khulna-2 as AL dropped its MP Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, who was mired in a controversy over his alleged links to the yaba trade.

Haji Selim (Dhaka-7), Yusuf Abdullah Harun (Cumilla-3), Swapan Bhattacharjee (Jessore-5) and Sirajul Islam Molla (Narsingdi-3) also got the AL ticket this time. They were elected MPs in the 2014 election as independent candidates, defeating AL candidates.

Two AL leaders have been given nominations for two seats held by JP leaders. In Dhaka-1, Salma Islam of the JP is the current MP but the AL has picked businessman Salman F Rahman for the seat.

JP's Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu is the MP from Chottogram-9, where the AL has made Muhibul Hasan Chowdhury Naofel its nominee.

The JP is highly disappointed with AL men being nominated in the two constituencies, said sources.

FEMALE CANDIDATES

Eighteen female nomination seekers, including two new ones, have got AL ticket to contest the national polls.

The two newcomers are Shahina Akhtar Chowdhury, wife of controversial lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi, and Selima Ahmed. Shahina has got nomination for Cox's Bazar-4 and Selima for Cumilla-2.

In the current parliament, the AL has 19 women lawmakers, who were elected through direct election. Besides, the party has 42 female MPs in the reserved seats for women, according to the Jatiya Sangsad website.

The party has nominated 17 people, including two new faces, from minority communities to run the race.

The two are Asim Kumar Ukil and Swapan Bhattacharjee.

WHO WERE DROPPED

For the last several days, speculations ran rife about who will not get party tickets this time. It was discussed in the party forums whether Jahangir Kabir Nanak and AFM Bahauddin Nasim will get nomination.

Nanak, who was elected lawmaker from Dhaka-13 in 2014, went to the Gono Bhaban recently in his attempt to know his fate, said party sources.

In his place, AL's Dhaka North General Secretary Sadek Khan was nominated to fight the battle of ballots in one of the key constituencies in the capital.

Nanak was promoted to the post of joint general secretary from organising secretary of the party in 2012. He was dropped from the then polls-time cabinet as state minister for LGRD ministry the next year.

Bahauddin Nasim, a cousin of Hasina, also did not get the party ticket. In his place, AL Central Office Secretary Abdus Salam Golap was picked.

According to sources, Nasim did not get the party ticket mainly because of internal feud. Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, who has an enmity with Nasim, and former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain lobbied hard so that Nasim could not get the ticket, they added.

Even there were clashes between supporters of Shajahan and Nasim on several occasions.

Nasim was elected lawmaker in 2014 polls for Madaripur-3, the constituency where Abul Hossain got elected in 2008 polls. Abul failed to secure party ticket in 2014 over allegations of Padma Bridge corruption conspiracy.

Source: thedailystar