The ruling Awami League is going to announce its election manifesto in the second week of December or mid-December.
The manifesto of the ruling party for the 12th National Parliamentary elections, slated for January 7 in 2024, is almost final. AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to announce the election manifesto by mid-December, said the party sources.
In its election manifesto, the ruling party is going to give priority on Bangladesh self-reliant and a ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041.There will also be a roadmap in the manifesto for achieving the goals.
An AL leader said the Awami League in its manifesto will pledge to build a self-sufficient Bangladesh by eradicating extreme poverty in the country, while building of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ from ‘Digital Bangladesh’ will also be another major element in the election manifesto.
The Awami League envisions ‘Smart Bangladesh’ in order to build a country that would be sustainable, innovative and knowledge-based.
‘Digital Bangladesh’ was one of the promises before the 2014
elections and the party believes that it is now a reality. Now it is necessary to make the country, its citizens, economy and the government smart. So, ‘Smart Bangladesh’ issue is getting priority in the AL manifesto.
The ruling Awami League had formed the ‘Awami League Election Manifesto Drafting Committee’ to prepare the draft. The party’s presidium member and agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzaque was made convener of the committee.
In October last, the manifesto drafting committee sought opinions of people from different classes and professions and community leaders to prepare its manifesto for the upcoming 12th parliamentary elections.
The AL Election Manifesto Drafting Committee has finalized the draft of the manifesto after three meetings. Party chief Sheikh Hasina studied it and made some observations and additions.
Salim Mahmud, member secretary of the AL’s manifesto drafting sub-committee; said the election manifesto will be officially presented to the nation by the Prime Minister and Awami League President soon.
Dr Abdur Razzaque said, “We have got opinions from common people and civil society members on our manifesto. They talked about economic infrastructure, agriculture, education, information technology, power generation, increase in productivity, prices of daily necessities, inflation and suffering of people with limited income. The AL manifesto will be announced, giving importance to common people.”
It was learned that this year’s AL manifesto bears surprises. Ensuring universal use of technology will be prioritized. Besides, importance will be given to industrialization to create employment and attract investment.
In 2008, Awami League came to power with the dream of building ‘Digital Bangladesh’ under the title ‘Charter for Change’. In 2014, the party came to power by promising to implement 10 mega projects. In 2018, a plan was given to build a developed and prosperous Bangladesh by 2041 and a safe delta by 2100.
This year’s goal is building ‘Smart Bangladesh’. For this, four basic pillars have been determined-- Smart Citizen, Smart Society, Smart Economy and Establishment of Smart Government. The manifesto contains detailed programmes and promises in this regard.
Besides, the Awami League is giving importance to the development of manpower suitable for the fourth industrial revolution and the party is setting a lofty goal of robust economy on a solid foundation.
The party will give clear programmes and promises on various issues including agriculture, education, information technology, power generation, increasing productivity, controlling the price of daily necessities and inflation, youth, drugs.
Adverse impacts of climate change would also be considered in the AL election manifesto.
Awami League’s manifesto this time will also give various other programmes to reduce foreign dependence and stay free from foreign conspiracies.
The AL’s election manifesto will have two parts. In the first part, there will be a picture of the implementation of the promises of the last election. The second part is the commitment of the next five years. Besides, there will be an outline for the next five years.
The Awami League governed the country for about 24 years in the past 52 years. During this period, Sheikh Hasina was in power for nearly 20 years. After winning the 11th parliamentary elections in 2018, she is now serving as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term. However, she is now serving as the government head for the fourth time as she became prime minister for he first time in 1996.
