Ties between Awami League and its allies have apparently come under strain over backing of candidates in the upcoming municipality elections.
The ruling party has decided to support 19 Jatiya Party candidates but it will back only two Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal candidates in the polls on January 12, 13, 17 and 18, said a source in the AL-led 14-party combine.
AL will not back any candidate of Workers Party of Bangladesh, led by Rashed Khan Menon; Samyabadi Dal, led by Dilip Barua; National Awami Party, Ganotantri Party, Ganotantri Majdur Party, Gano Azadi League and Communist Kendro.
The ruling party's decision has created a sense of mistrust and suspicion among the leaders of the other components of the 14-party combine, said some alliance leaders.
Workers Party demanded that AL back at least nine of its candidates in municipalities in Jessore, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Barisal, Thakurgaon and Narail, said AL leaders.
But the ruling party decided not to extend support to any of them on grounds that the AL candidates are better placed than those of Workers Party to win the elections.
“We have backed those candidates based on the possibility of winning the polls, not on party affiliation,” AL Organising Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim has told The Daily Star.
He brushed aside any breach between the ruling party and its allies over the issue.
A source in AL said no other alliance component rather than JSD and Workers Party sought the ruling party's support for its candidates.
Bimal Biswas, politburo member of Workers Party, said, “Awami League's attitude is bound to enrage Workers Party activists across the country.”
The party leader said they would support secular and pro-Liberation War candidates in every municipality, but the ruling party made a wrong decision to back only its candidates in those municipalities.
A leader of another component in the combine said AL should have sat with other alliance partners and decided on the issue through a consensus.
Acting AL General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif hoped that the issue would not affect the relationship between the ruling party and its allies.
