Those who were worried as to who will participate [in the elections] and who won't... There's nothing to worry… flowers have started to bloom... More flowers will bloom. Hundreds of flowers will bloom before the nomination submission deadline.

— Obaidul Quader Awami League General Secretary

Stating that there is no reason to worry about the upcoming polls, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said the election process has started to gain momentum.

"Those who were worried as to who will participate [in elections] and who won't... flowers have started to bloom... there's nothing to worry... More flowers will bloom. Hundreds of flowers will bloom before the nomination submission deadline," he said.

He made the remarks at a coordination meeting at AL's Dhaka office in Tejgaon. It was held between the members of AL national election steering committee and the conveners and member secretaries of the  sub-committees.

On November 16, Quader hinted that many political parties and individuals will eventually decide to contest the national polls before the nomination paper submission deadline.

Quader told reporters that the election manifesto of Awami League has been finalised.

He said, "There is no need to worry about foreign countries now. Those who care about us are now busy with the Middle East, with Hamas and Israel. They are still busy with Russia-Ukraine. Now their responsibilities have increased."

"It seems that the influential  [countries] will not get much time and opportunity to worry about us... We are not bothered about who sanctions us or introduces visa policy. Our strength is our people," he added.

Earlier, following a meeting between AL leaders and the Commonwealth Pre-Election Assessment Mission at the party's office in Tejgaon, Quader said the Election Commission can defer the polls schedule within the timeframe mentioned in the constitution.

"The Awami League or the government has no say here," he said.

It's entirely under the EC's jurisdiction how they hold the election. It is also mandated by the constitution that the election process must be completed within a certain time frame. In this circumstance, if EC deems that the election schedule should be deferred, they can do so, he said.

Asked whether the election would be one-sided if BNP does not participate, Quader said, "Will you ignore the rest of the parties that will participate [in the election]? They are also part of democracy, part of the selection process. Many parties will eventually join the polls and the election will be participatory."

The AL general secretary also said they had a "positive discussion" with the Commonwealth observer team and the latter seems to have a positive response to sending election observers.