Dhaka, February 9 Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, made its final “urgent appeal” for votes on Monday, emphasizing its unblemished record on corruption and its reputation for efficiency.
Electioneering in Bangladesh ends at midnight ahead of the February 12 elections.
"I appeal to you to vote for our 'fair scale' (symbol of impartiality) and for any of the (Jamaat-led) 11-party alliance candidates contesting in the February 12 elections," party chief Shafiqur Rahman said in a nationwide televised address on the last day of electioneering.
He said that no Jamaat leader who has served as a public representative in parliament, government, and local bodies has ever been accused of corruption.
They have all performed their responsibilities with efficiency, he added.
“You, the people of the country, are witnesses to this fact,” Rahman said.
Seeking the votes of minority religious communities, he said, “This Bangladesh belongs to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians.”
"If anyone tries to harm you based on your religious identities, we will prevent that, as we did in the past," Rahman said.
The Jamaat chief, whose negative remarks about women's leadership in state affairs and politics in the recent past sparked protests, said in his last address that if the party comes to power, “They (women) will proudly remain in mainstream leadership in society.”
“From the corporate arena to politics – everywhere their merit will be evaluated without any discrimination. We are promising to build such a country where no mother or sister will suffer from insecurity," he said.
Explaining the party’s foreign policy outline, Rahman said if voted to power, Jamaat would “build relations at the international and regional level based on ‘equal status'".
“We will respect others' territorial integrity and give priority to developing friendly relations with all countries. But our national interest, dignity, and national development will get priority in developing foreign relations,” Rahman said.
Jamaat, which is opposed by several Islamic groups and religious schools of thought despite its nationwide organizational structure, also tried to woo their votes, praising their service to the religion.
“We believe you will play an important role in our nation-building efforts. We know you were deprived of human rights in the past. Our new Bangladesh aims to change that scenario. In the national policy-making process, your formal contribution will be officially acknowledged, and your role will be strengthened,” Rahman said.
The chief of Jamaat, who was opposed to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan, also paid tributes to those killed during the Liberation War, alongside those who lost their lives in the student-led July Uprising of 2024 that toppled the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.
