The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shahidul Islam

Component political parties of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance are reorganising their respective houses, keeping the coalition dormant after the January 11 (2007) changeover, apprehending that hobnobbing with the AL may be counterproductive, if it boycotts the next general election over the release of the party Chief Sheikh Hasina.

Most of the 14-party alliance partners, including the Gano Forum, Workers Party and JSD (Inu), are taking preparations for participating in the local government polls although some of them were issuing statements demanding the holding of parliamentary elections before all other polls similar to that of the Awami League (AL) demand, mainly to woo the leading party openly, influential leaders of the alliance told The New Nation yesterday.

Gano Forum (GF) President Dr Kamal Hossain on Friday announced that his party would participate in all local government elections, including the upazila, if held before the general elections as per the roadmap of the Election Commission (EC), while Workers Party (WP) engaged one of its influential activists to organise the Union Parishad Chairman Samgram Parishad (UP Chairmen Action Council) and Upazila Restoration Council (URC)-both of which were launching countrywide campaigns for holding local elections before the parliamentary polls.

Dr Kamal made the announcement after a recent meeting with JSD President Hasanul Haq Inu, who is also a front ranking proponent of forming a Government of national consensus after the next general elections like the GF Chief and Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh Chief former President Prof Dr AKM Badrtuddoza Chowdhury. The AL formally differed with this issue.

It is interesting to note that the Union Parishad Chairmen Action Council (UPCAC) and URC were formed by current and former Chairmen of the Union Councils and defunct upazilas and many paursavas, including the grassroots level leaders of different political parties, including those belonging to the BNP and the AL. All of these current and former chairmen of different tiers of the local bodies are against the intervention of the MPs in local development affairs.

Issuing a threat to move the higher court of law to implement a previous verdict of the Supreme Court, which directed the Government to hold upazila polls a decade ago, leaders UPCAC and URC at a recent press conference apprehended that the politicians would never hold the upazila polls and MPs would neither refrain from intervening in the local government bodies nor politicising local development projects if a political government could get elected before the local body polls.

Leaders of the smaller components of the 14-party alliance feel that they would be in a better position to bargain with the AL demanding more parliamentary seats, if they could capture some posts of the Chairmen in different tiers of the local government bodies, including city corporations, municipalities and upazilas. For example most of the groupings central leaders, including those of the AL, agree that WP leader Fazle Hossain Badsha would be a sure winner in the Mayoral election of Rajshahi City Corporation, as he was the candidate of the 14-party alliance during last polls, when the AL boycotted Dhaka City Corporation elections. They noted that the rival BNP had become disorganised following the arrest of number of its leaders on charges of corruption and links with the JMB militants, which brighten the chances for Badsha further.

Meanwhile, serious disagreements on joining the next general elections with or without party Chief Sheikh Hasina among the top leaders of the AL has surfaced on Friday, when influential party Presidium member Amir Hossain Amu opposed a statement made by its Acting President Zillur Rahman that party would not participate in the polls if the detained former Prime Minister was not set free before.

Opposing the idea, Amir Hossain Amu yesterday reiterated saying, "The boycott of the general elections will obviously affect Sheikh Hasina personally and the Awami League as a democratic political party."

Talking to this Correspondent last evening, Amu referred to a comment reportedly made by Sheikh Hasina that persons, who were pressing for imposing adventurous action programme of the AL in the name of her release were actually doing harm to the party.

In the meantime, a comment reportedly made by the 14-party alliance's Coordinator and influential AL Presidium member Tofail Ahmed that the GF was no more in the 14-party alliance after Dr Kamal Hossain's statement against Sheikh Hasina.

"The Gano Forum is a part and parcel of the 14-party alliance from the very beginning whether Tofail Ahmed likes it or not," WP General Secretary Bimal Biswas told The New Nation yesterday. GF Presidium member Pankoj Bhattachariya added saying, "No person or party can oust Gano Forum from the alliance without a meeting of is central steering committee."

When asked, Amir Hossain Amu said the AL Presidium would sit this afternoon to decide its stand on joining the general elections and activating or not the 14-party alliance.