AL gets 30 names from local units

Municipality units of ruling Awami League have started singling out mayoral candidates and sending their names to the party chief's office ahead of the upcoming municipality polls.

Insiders say AL chief Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi office received names from at least 30 municipalities as of yesterday evening with most of them sending the name of one mayoral candidate.

However, several units have sent names of multiple mayoral candidates to the party chief for making the final decision as they did not want to cause any internal feud.

The grassroots leaders are hopeful that they can also select one candidate for each councillor post to increase their chances of victory. They have also got verbal instructions from the capital in this regard, add AL insiders.

The party's nomination board is set to finalise the candidates at a meeting at the Gono Bhaban around 6:00pm today. AL chief Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, is likely to give the final approval to the party nominated mayoral candidates.

AL Office Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap told The Daily Star last night that they got single names from the municipalities that had sent lists so far. "We hope we will get names from all municipalities [in a similar fashion]," he added.

Talking to The Daily Star, many grassroots leaders said incumbent mayors had got priority in the selection process.

The Sunamganj district unit has already sent three names for three municipalities. The fourth and last name would be sent by morning today, said district unit AL General Secretary Nurul Huda Mukut.

"There were several aspirants for mayoral posts, but we have finalised one after reaching an agreement through discussion," he added.

Shahin Chaklader, general secretary of Jessore district unit AL, however, said they would send a list of all aspirants and the party president would pick the candidates.

"The Awami League is a big organisation that has several eligible candidates. They all want party tickets … We have decided to send all the names of aspirants and our leader Sheikh Hasina will make the final decision," he said.

Chapainawabganj district unit President Moinuddin Mondol said they had already sent a list of four candidates for the four municipalities. "We are trying now to finalise single candidates in the councillor posts to ensure victory," he added.

Kushtia district unit President Sador Uddin also said they would send five names for the five municipalities in the district.

Asked about single councillor candidates, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Daily Star that the grassroots would select single candidates. "The central committee will not interfere in the selection process," he added.