The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance is fully prepared to contest the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, and the final seat-sharing deal will be announced publicly within a day or two, National Citizen Party convener Nahid Islam said on Saturday.

Nahid made the remarks while speaking to journalists after a meeting with a European Union election observer delegation led by chief observer Ivars Ijabs at Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka.

The alliance has completed its internal preparations, and only the public announcement of seat sharing remains pending, he said.

He said that the Jamaat–NCP alliance had already begun electioneering across the country, while confusion and disorder still prevailed in other political alliances over seat distribution.

Nahid, however, expressed concern over the lack of a level playing field in the election, saying political parties had little confidence that equal opportunities were being ensured.

He alleged that special privileges and state protocol were being extended to a particular political party, which was sending a message of administrative bias and could create an uneven electoral environment.

The NCP leader also accused sections of the mainstream media of bias, saying negative and false reports were being deliberately published about his party.

He said that some media outlets were targeting the NCP with misleading news, which was undermining fairness in the electoral process, and added that the party had repeatedly raised the issue with the government and the Election Commission.

Regarding loan defaulters, Nahid said that many candidates with outstanding bank loans had initially been declared valid, while only a small number had been disqualified despite a much larger figure being involved.

He demanded a tougher stance from the Election Commission to ensure that defaulters were not allowed to contest the polls.

On election monitoring, Nahid said that the European Union would send a large observer mission for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

He said that the EU wanted the polls to be free, competitive and credible so that a democratic transfer of power could take place smoothly after the results were announced.

Raising concerns over security, Nahid said that the public shooting and killing of Inquilab Mancha convener Sharif Osman Bin Hadi had created fear in the electoral field.

He said that the continued failure to arrest the perpetrators had left candidates and activists feeling unsafe ahead of the election.