BNP list finalised, yet aspirants interviewed
28th November 2008
Interviewing BNP ticket aspirants yesterday was merely a formality as the party had already chosen its candidates for the next parliamentary election ignoring the traditional system of interviewing nomination hopefuls.
Insiders said the party last night started sending letters to candidates confirming nomination.
Shamsul Alam of Chittagong-8, who joined the BNP yesterday evening, showed reporters his letter of nomination at 10:10pm.
However, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former minister and a nomination hopeful from Chittagong-10, told The Daily Star at 8:30pm, "The [parliamentary] board informed us that the letters will be issued in the evening although I did not receive it yet."
Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman met BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other top BNP leaders late last night.
The Jamaat leaders handed Khaleda the list of their nominees for the upcoming parliamentary election under the BNP-led four-party alliance.
According to Jamaat sources, nomination of Jamaat candidates was supposed to be finalised last night.
BNP sources said after finalising seat sharing with its allies including Jamaat, the BNP may today announce the list of its candidates prepared by the high-ups on the basis of survey reports and names collected from the grassroots level through seven organisational teams.
BNP Office Secretary Rizvi Ahmed last night said, "We might be able to disclose the final list of candidates tomorrow morning."
The BNP parliamentary board sat with all nomination seekers from each constituency at a time rather than interviewing them separately and only wanted to know their names and identity without giving them any chance to say anything about the party or the polls.
The board also asked them to work together no matter who gets nominated.
A few nomination seekers tried to draw the party chairperson's attention to their role since declaration of the state of emergency and identify the so-called reformist leaders among them.
The BNP parliamentary board headed by Chairperson Khaleda Zia started interviewing the aspirants at about 11:00am and continued until midnight.
Party men from the grassroots level were all very enthusiastic about the interview. Thousands of leaders, workers and supporters gathered in the area adjacent to Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office to extend support for their desired candidates. This caused a huge traffic jam in the area.
The crowds eventually blocked the streets surrounding the BNP office. A few makeshift tea stalls and other shops were also set up in the area.
Police later deployed extra forces to control the crowd; party activists also volunteered with them.
Arriving at the interview venue, a few so-called reformist leaders however faced the anger of party leaders and workers.
The party workers chanted slogans against Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, Rezaul Bari Dina, GM Siraj, Ziaul Haque Mollah and Abdul Alim, among others. They surrounded Hafiz as he arrived the venue. He had to take police escort to enter the venue and leave the place.
Many nomination hopefuls expressed frustration to reporters about the interview system.
"The interview process frustrated me but I hope the party will give ticket to right and competent persons," a former lawmaker said after facing the board.
Bilkis Jahan Shirin, another former lawmaker, said, "I very much wanted to inform madam [Khaleda] about party activities and my constituency but I could not say anything."
Iqbal Hossain of Narail-2 and Sheikh Atiar Rahman of Bagerhat-2 also told The Daily Star that they only got the chance to tell their names and party posts.
Maj (retd) Hafiz, former lawmaker seeking nomination from Bhola-3, said this time the party did not follow the existing system of interviewing. "There was no chance to say anything personally," he said.
Around 3,186 nomination forms were sold and 2,096 aspirants from six divisions were interviewed yesterday.
Candidates from Chittagong division were interviewed first followed by candidates from Sylhet, Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions.
Source: The Daily Star