Gearing up its election drive, the ruling Awami League on Friday published the list of its candidates for 295 constituencies for the next general election slated for January 5. Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam read out the names of the party contenders at AL president Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office in the evening. Earlier, the Awami League Parliamentary Board finalised the list of the candidates on Wednesday and Thursday. Before announcing the names of the party candidates, Syed Ashraf termed the next general election ‘most important’ for Bangladesh and urged all political parties to take part in it. “There’s no alternative to election for the continuation of democratic process.” Describing the list of the Awami League candidates as the final one, he, however, said candidates from other components of the 14-party alliance will be included in the list. The final list of the AL-led 14-party alliance will be disclosed later, he said. Turning to the criteria upon which the candidates were selected, the ruling party spokesperson said, “We’ve completed the selection process over a one-year period.” Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took opinions from the grassroots leaders in this regard, he said. “The Awami League Parliamentary Board finalised the list based on the opinions of the grassroots-level leaders and the candidates competence.” – UNB
