With the national election drawing closer, the ruling Awami League's focus is on reorganising the party.

The BNP and other opposition parties' anti-government programmes are of little concern for the AL leadership now, insiders said.

AL leaders are working to bring discipline within the party so that it can participate in the election without rifts among local groups.

When the top AL leaders met AL President Sheikh Hasina at the Gono Bhaban on Wednesday, on the occasion of her "homecoming day", she directed them to resolve internal feuds and asked them to be prepared for making sacrifices, no matter how serious, for the party before the polls slated for next January.

Contacted, AL Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim said, "Our preparation for the next parliamentary polls is going on in full swing. We are concentrating on finalising our campaign strategy, working on our manifesto, and conducting surveys to find the candidates fit for nomination."

The AL is assuming that all political parties will participate in the election, he said when asked about the uncertainty over BNP's participation.

"But our final election strategy will depend on the situation."

The AL is also eyeing more votes by bringing like-minded political parties under its fold. It started talks with the partners of its "14-party ideological alliance" to bridge gaps that have developed over time, insiders say.

The AL has already conducted several surveys to identify possible nominees. Some more surveys will be done to select three suitable candidates from each constituency. One individual will eventually be chosen.

In order to ensure discipline, the central AL leadership summoned leaders from 27 district units. Nine of them failed to hold councils after the tenure of the previous committee ended.

Leaders from 18 districts, where councils were held but no announcement of full committees was made within 45 days, were asked to meet central leaders with names of members for the proposed fully-fledged committees.

The AL asked its MPs and nomination aspirants to visit their constituencies to maintain close contact with the voters. They were also asked to work together with grassroots leaders and join the campaign trail of the person who gets nominated by the party, even if that means making sacrifices.

A central committee member of the AL, requesting anonymity, said the ruling party was least bothered about BNP's plans for anti-government demonstrations because the people would reject the party for its anti-state stance. "We are on our way to participate in the election. We are preparing for it."

Other AL insiders said the AL manifesto for the 12th national election will highlight the pledge for a "Smart Bangladesh" by 2041.

According to party insiders, one of the main themes of AL's election campaign will be the achievements of the AL-led governments since 2009.

The AL campaigners will compare the BNP-led four-party government with the current one and talk about the situation that prevailed after the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

Ashraful Hossain Alam, known as Hero Alam, will contest the by-election to the Dhaka-17 constituency, which fell vacant following the death of actor Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque.

Hero Alam will buy a nomination form from the Election Commission at 3:00pm today, he told The Daily Star in the morning.

Asked why he wanted to participate in the Dhaka-17 by-polls, Hero Alam said, " Farooque bhai was a great hero. His death is a great loss to all of us. Various development works remain unfinished as he fell ill and passed away. I want to finish those unfinished works.

"People of the entire country love me now. I reached here facing many difficulties. I want to prove how much people love me by participating in Dhaka by-polls. I am sure the voters of Dhaka will vote for me," Hero Alam said.

Asked whether he would contest the national election from Dhaka, Hero Alam said, "I will participate in the national election either from Dhaka or from Bogura."

Hero Alam took part in the by-elections to Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 seats held in February. Although he lost in Bogura-6 with a big margin, he was defeated by Awami League-backed Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) candidate only by 834 votes in Bogura-4 constituency.

Read more

Hero Alom: A revolutionary or a symptom?

The by-election to Dhaka-17 constituency will be held on July 17.

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Why are we so opposed to seeing Hero Alom in politics?

The Election Commission Secretariat has informed Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the interim government, earlier this month about the preparations needed to hold a free and fair election as political parties' calls for polls grow louder.

Usually, the process starts with the chief election commissioner informing the president. Given the absence of a functioning EC, the Chief Adviser's Office was informed about the process, The Daily Star has learnt from people involved with the proceedings.

It was conveyed to Yunus that the first step to holding a credible election would be a comprehensive voter list and preparing one could take nine to 10 months.

If the EC is reconstituted by December, a voter list could be ready by the end of 2025.

It would take at least one month for data collection, seven to eight months for registration, 15 days for the draft list and another 15 days for feedback and objections from voters.

For the process to kick off, the EC needs to be formed, and for that, a search committee needs to be formed.

According to Article 119 of the constitution, the EC is responsible for preparing, supervising, directing and controlling voter lists for presidential and parliamentary elections.

The cabinet division serves as the secretariat for the search committee involved in commission appointments, according to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022.

The need for a fully operational EC has already been communicated to President Mohammed Shahabuddin, and in response, the Chief Advisor's office has requested the president to initiate the necessary appointments.

Yesterday, Asif Nazrul, the law affairs adviser, announced that a search committee for the EC has already been formed.

"I can tell you one thing -- the process for our government to gear up for the election has begun. You could say that the journey towards the election has started," he told reporters after meeting with Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Once the EC is constituted, the priority will be on updating the voter list to eliminate fake entries allegedly added by the previous government, Nazrul added.

Currently, Bangladesh has over 121.8 million registered voters, of which approximately 62.1 million are male, 59.7 million female and 932 third gender.

The interim government intends to engage in a transparent electoral process and hence wants to compile a new voter list, The Daily Star has learnt from people involved with the proceedings.

Although routine annual updates are conducted as per the Voter List Act 2009, the government is considering an exception to the norm, aligning with public demand.

The Voter List Act 2009 mandates an annual update from January 2 to March 2 and yet allows the EC discretion for special revisions.

Subsequently, the EC is legally required to finalise the updated voter list by March 2 next year.

A budget of Tk 138 crore was allocated for the 2022 voter list update.

Awami League's decision to not compete for two of the recently vacated seats, rather letting its allies vie for them, is aimed at strengthening its relations with partners ahead of the 12th national election, slated for January 2024.

On the other hand, AL's decision to not give the party symbol to anyone competing in the upcoming Brahmanbaria-2 by-polls is an effort to keep the main opposition, Jatiya Party, in its fold, according to AL insiders.

AL's parliamentary board on Sunday decided to leave two seats -- Thakurgaon-3 and Bogura-4 -- for Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu), respectively.

In the last election held in 2008, AL left Thakurgaon-3 for Workers Party, Bogura-4 for JSD-Inu, and Brahmanbaria-2 for Jatiya Party, but BNP won those seats.

As AL is trying to expand its alliance by taking pro-liberation political forces on board, the party's latest decision is to satisfy its alliance and electoral partners. The ruling party is now working on its relations with its partners, belonging to the 14-party alliance, and has already sat with them several times. It is also closely maintaining relations with Jatiya Party.

The ruling party has decided to contest for three of the six seats that remain vacant since the recent resignation of BNP lawmakers. The election of those six seats will be held on February 1.

On December 11, a day after BNP's rally in Dhaka, seven BNP MPs, one from reserved seat, tendered their resignation letters to the JS speaker as part of their party's anti-government movement. And so, six seats -- Brahmanbaria-2, Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4, Bogura-6, Chapainawabganj-2 and Chapainawabganj-3 -- were vacated.

Awami League's decision came after Workers Party and JSD wrote letters to the ruling party to sacrifice those two seats for them.

According to insiders, as AL is trying to expand its alliance by taking pro-liberation political forces on board, the party's latest decision is to satisfy its alliance and electoral partners.

The ruling party is now working on its relations with its partners, belonging to the 14-party alliance, and has already sat with them several times. It is also closely maintaining relations with Jatiya Party, said sources.

AL took part in the 2008, 2014 and 2018 elections under the banner of the 14-party alliance, which was treated as AL's ideological alliance. Besides, Jatiya Party was an electoral partner of AL in those elections.

When AL formed the government in 2009, Jatiya Party became the main opposition in the House, while AL ignored its partners. But leaders of the allies were inducted into the government formed in 2009 and 2014, they said.

A gap started forming between partners of the 14-party alliance and Awami League. This gap has widened day by day due to AL ignoring its partners.

This friction was exposed on December 8, when AL convened a meeting with its partners. The ruling party drew heavy flak from its left-leaning allies for ignoring them while taking crucial political decisions and for starting "electioneering" for the next national polls by keeping its partners in the dark.

Leaders of the leftist parties told AL leaders that they are disappointed, as the ruling party does not give them space in the government nor give the alliance much importance.

On the other hand, relations between AL and JP have lately strained, as the former believes JP Chairman GM Quader has reached an understanding with BNP leaders about a simultaneous anti-government movement, sources said.

Things appeared to have soured when several JP leaders started talking about "government misrule" a few months ago and last month. GM Quader said his party does not belong to any alliance with AL.

Under such circumstances, the ruling party started trying to strengthen relations with its partners.

AL President Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, held a meeting with two top leaders of Jatiya Party, while top leaders of AL had several meetings with its left-leaning partners.

Talking to the Daily Star, a top leader of Workers Party, wishing anonymity, said, "As Awami League decided to participate in the next election under the banner of the 14-party alliance, the ruling party is trying to satisfy partners and the latest decision shows that."

"We will wage movements and participate in the election together," AL veteran leader Amir Hossain Amu, also coordinator of the 14-party alliance, told The Daily Star.

He brushed aside claims of the widening gap between AL and its partners.