Door open for Islami Andolan to rejoin alliance: Asif Mahmud

The door is still open for Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) to engage in discord settlement talks and rejoin the Jamaat-led election alliance, said Asif Mahmud, chief of the election management committee at NCP.

NCP, a member of the alliance, hopes that IAB would return to the bloc and the allied political parties will cross the election hurdle together, Asif Mahmud said while speaking at a press conference held at the party head office in the capital on Friday.

IAB left the 11-party alliance after Jamaat entered into an election agreement with NCP. The agreement on giving 30 seats to NCP candidates took many prospective seats away from IAB’s control, the party’s leaders reportedly claimed.

IAB, which wanted the alliance to be a right-wing Islamist bloc, also held reservations over the newest alliance partner NCP's centrist posture.

When asked if NCP played a role in IAB’s departure, Asif Mahmud said “no.” IAB, as the party itself claimed, quit the alliance over ideological differences, Asif Mahmud told reporters.

If IAB stays out, NCP would look to field candidates in more constituencies under the alliance’s seat-sharing plan. The issue will be discussed by the bloc’s liaison committee, Asif Mahmud said.

On Thursday, the alliance announced candidates for 253 constituencies. NCP secured 30 seats in the alliance – the second biggest share after Jamaat’s 179 seats.

The remaining 47 seats were left for three alliance partners including IAB, which later turned down the offer and announced that it would outright quit the bloc.