AL to step up campaign in next 2 weeks

The ruling Awami League is preparing to beef up electioneering across the country in the next two weeks before the Election Commission announces the schedule of the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The secretary to the EC Secretariat yesterday said the schedule would be announced in the first week of next month.

The electoral code of conduct will take effect with the announcement of the schedule imposing restriction on electioneering by parties and their MP candidates.

The electioneering can be resumed after the finalisation of candidacies, and allocation of electoral symbol to the candidates by returning officers. The electioneering may continue amid various restrictions for maximum three weeks before the election.

As there is no restriction on the electioneering now, the AL wants to ensure maximum utilisation of this opportunity.    

Grassroots leaders and activists from the party have already launched extensive campaigns in their areas with the use of posters, placards and billboards highlighting development activities of the government, according to field reports sent by our correspondents in different districts. The leaders were doing those on their own.

They are also holding indoor and outdoor meetings and mass contact programmes to persuade voters, the reports say.

According to its current plan, the ruling party wants to start distributing around 30 lakh colourful posters to grassroots leaders from this week. Those posters would be hanged in electoral areas in upazilas and districts. On an average, each of the 300 parliamentary constituencies would get 10,000 posters. 

The party also directed its grassroots leaders to carry out mass contact programmes highlighting the government's successes, a number of AL leaders said.

"Six to eight types of posters highlighting the successes of the government in carrying out development activities are being printed. The posters will also  mention negative politics, including subversive activities, by the BNP-led alliance,” Hassan Mahmud, AL publicity and publication secretary, told The Daily Star yesterday. 

"We want our grassroots leaders to put up the posters in their areas within this month,” he said.

 Besides, the AL-led 14-party alliance has decided to hold public meetings in Chuadanga on October 26 and Dhaka's Motijheel on October 29, said Dilip Barua, general secretary of Samayabadi Dal, a component of the alliance.

The combine would hold another meeting in Jashore. The date of that programme, however, has not been finalised yet, he added.

Asked about the police permissions for the programme, Barua said the local leaders of the 14-party would obtain them.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, AL presidium member Abdur Razzak said the party was taking election preparation in full swing.

"We have held a meeting on October 10 for drafting the election manifesto. A team is working under the leadership of HT Imam to finalise the manifesto," he said.

He said the AL was taking opinions and suggestions from different professionals, experts, economists and development partners to prepare the electoral manifesto.

The AL also wants to ensure appointment of skilled grassroots leaders and activists as polling agents for its candidates.

Democracy International (DI) has already trained 94 AL leaders in this regard, said a source in the US-based NGO.

DI also trained 114 leaders from the BNP. It has a plan to train up 128 leaders from each political party within this month.

Those receiving the training are called master trainers. They were given three days' training on election procedures. They will be training the polling agents in future.

Sources in the AL said the party initially has ensured training on polls procedures for 10 leaders from each of its 78 organisational districts.

A message was sent from the central AL that the polling agents would be finalised in coordination with district and upazila AL leaders.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to invite the master trainers this month to the Gono Bhaban and give some specific directives to them as part of the party's election preparation, sources in the AL added.