The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-Party Electoral Alliance has reached a seat-sharing agreement for 253 constituencies, keeping the rest 'reserved' for disgruntled ally Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which didn't join alliance leaders for a press conference announcing their progress on the distribution of the seats on Thursday night.
The press conference was held at the Diploma Engineers Institute auditorium around 8pm, having been postponed earlier from a 4.30pm slot.
According to the announcement, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will contest 179 seats, the National Citizen Party (NCP) 30 seats, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis 20 seats, Khilafat Majlis 10 seats, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 7 seats, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) 3 seats, Bangladesh Development Party (BDP) 2 seats, and Nezam-e-Islam 2 seats.
Alliance leaders said that from the time of the announcement, only one candidate will contest in each seat under the alliance banner, and no other alliance member will field a candidate in that constituency. All parties will work together to ensure victory for the alliance candidate.
The alliance has kept 47 seats free, indicating they will be filled after talks are completed with the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, previously the second-largest party in the alliance after Jamaat. IAB, led by the Charmonai Pir, has been acting indifferent within the alliance ever since NCP were brought on.
Notably, no representative of Islami Andolan Bangladesh was present at the press conference. The party has called a press conference at 3pm on Friday to clarify its position on the seat-sharing arrangement. The press conference will be held at the party’s central office in Old Paltan, Dhaka.
Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman said the alliance was formed to meet the nation’s aspiration for liberation from what he described as “a decayed political system” shaped by 54 years of misrule.
“We no longer want the old politics that turned into fascism and oppressed the nation. We reject the politics that prioritises killing people instead of protecting innocent lives,” he said.
He added that the alliance would not tolerate any form of electoral engineering, vote rigging, or manipulation, and vowed to resist all attempts at vote fraud.
Jamaat Ameer, responding to a question from journalists at the press conference, said the alliance has not broken and remains intact. He said that if a party fails to reach consensus for any reason, it does not mean the alliance has collapsed, adding that it is not a formal coalition but an electoral unity.
Without naming Islami Andolon Bangladesh, he said, “One party was with us at the beginning but is not present here now. This does not indicate a split. They are having further internal discussions. We are in regular contact with them. They will announce their final decision, and we hope they will remain with us.”
Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said this election is unlike previous ones.
“Earlier elections were only about changing power. This election is about our very existence,” he said, adding that minor unresolved issues in seat allocation would be settled before the withdrawal deadline.
NCP Convener Nahid Islam described the alliance as a historic political journey, saying it carries immense significance beyond electoral adjustment.
“After the mass uprising, the aspirations we want to move forward with must pass this test in the upcoming election. We will work together to build the Bangladesh envisioned through the Liberation War—based on equality, human dignity, and social justice—while also carrying the spirit of all historic struggles, including the 1947 movement for freedom,” he said.
The press conference was attended by LDP President Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, NCP’s Naseruddin Patwari, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis Ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque, Secretary General Jalaluddin Ahmed, Khilafat Majlis Secretary General Dr Ahmed Abdul Qader, AB Party President Mujibur Rahman Manju, BDP President Anwarul Islam Chan, Nezame Islam Party Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Abdul Majed Athari, Jagpa Vice-President and Spokesperson Rashed Pradhan, Bangladesh Khilafat Andolon Secretary General Yusuf Sadiq Haqqani, among others.