Ataur Rahman questions whether Jamaat wants to act as opposition like Jatiya Party

Islamic Movement Bangladesh spokesperson Gazi Ataur Rahman has questioned whether Jamaat-e-Islami wants to play the role of an opposition party while remaining aligned with the government, similar to the Jatiya Party.

He made the remarks during a briefing held at the Islamic Movement Bangladesh office at Noakhali Tower in Paltan, Dhaka, on Wednesday, January 14.

Speaking on alliance politics, Gazi Ataur Rahman said a final decision on whether Islamic Movement Bangladesh would contest the election jointly or independently would be announced within the next two days. Despite challenges, the party was trying to keep the alliance intact.

He added that after the uprising, the Ameer of Islamic Movement Bangladesh had proposed a “single box” policy for all Islamic parties in the election. Although other parties had made seat concessions to one another as part of seat-sharing arrangements, no constituency had been left for Islamic Movement candidates. Discussions on the issue were still ongoing, he said.

At the briefing, he also raised questions over the results of various election surveys.

He said misleading surveys could not measure the true aspirations of the people of Bangladesh and added that anything could happen in the political landscape before February 12.