AL will get more votes in next election than it did in 2008, says Joy

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said the Awami League will secure more votes in the 11th parliamentary elections than it did in the 9th general elections.

"I sat with the Awami League leaders to convey a good news. The news is that the AL will get more votes in the next election than it did in 2008 general election," he told the media quoting the Gallup poll he conducted.

He was speaking to the media after attending a meeting with the leaders of the Awami League and its front organisations on Monday at the AL chief's Dhanmondi office. General Secretary Obaidul Quader was also present among other central leaders.

He, however, said he would not contest in the next elections.

"I will not be a candidate. My goal is to keep the party in power. I am not tempted by the ministerial position or parliamentary membership," he told the news briefing.

According to the Election Commission statistics, the Awami League bagged 230 seats in the ninth parliamentary elections held on Dec 29, 2008, securing 48.04 percent or over 33.63 million votes.

The party won 234 seats in a largely boycotted election on Jan 5, 2014, when a total of 153 MPs were elected unopposed as no one filed nominations in those constituencies. In the rest of the 147 seats, the party candidates got around 12.36 million votes.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections along with its main ally Jamaat-e-Islami.

In 2008, AL's arch-rival BNP received over 22.7 million votes or 32.5 percent of the ballots cast, though the party managed to secure only 30 seats.

The Jatiay Party got 34 seats in the 10th general election with a vote share of 1.19 million which was seven percent of the votes cast in 147 constituencies.

The 11th parliamentary election will be held in late 2018 or early 2019.