Islami Andolan to contest election on its own, field candidates in 268 seats

A spokesman for the party says it left its initial alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami because it is “denying justice” and is moving away from Islamic ideals

Islami Andolan Bangladesh has announced that it will field candidates for 268 seats in the 13th parliamentary election and contest on its own instead of joining the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance.

Party spokesman Gazi Ataur Rahman said it had left the Jamaat alliance due to the party's “denial of justice”, its “anti-Islamic activities” and “deviations from the ideals of Islam”.

He said, "We have already registered 268 nominations for 270 seats across the country. We will contest the elections on our own. We want to put all the votes of the Islamist contingency in one box."

"The Jamaat-e-Islami ameer has spoken of seat-sharing in a compromise with BNP chief Tarique Rahman without discussing the matter with us. After that, we had doubts and concerns about whether this election will be rigged."

Ahead of the election, discussions intensified on turning the Jamaat-e-Islami-led “11-party electoral alliance” into a formal electoral coalition.

Ahead of the deadline for submitting nomination papers, the National Citizen Party (NCP) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) joined the alliance a day before the cut-off, followed by the Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) the next day.

Several parties, including Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, raised objections to the NCP’s inclusion in the alliance. While Jamaat managed to bring Mamunul Haque-led Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis on board, the distance between Jamaat and Islami Andolan widened.

Over the past two weeks, Islami Andolan failed to reach a consensus with Jamaat over seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming election. The party demanded more than 150 seats. When that expectation was not met, Islami Andolan did not partake in the alliance meeting on Thursday.

At a press conference on Thursday night, Jamaat’s deputy chief Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher announced the distribution of seats among the eight parties in the alliance.

The announcement left seat allocations for Islami Andolan, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JGP), and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan undecided.

Jamaat leaders said they hoped Islami Andolan would eventually join the alliance, keeping decisions on 47 seats pending.

However, the party led by the Charmonai Pir ultimately decided at the last moment to contest in the election independently.