Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief and opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman has acknowledged that his party was weak in protecting votes it received in the national election, urging leaders and activists to ensure that similar shortcomings do not recur in upcoming city corporation polls.

Addressing Jamaat leaders, Shafiqur said voters had complained that they had cast their ballots for the party but that it had failed to protect their votes.

“We have to admit that we had weaknesses,” he said, stressing the need to learn from past mistakes and remain vigilant in future elections.

He called on party leaders to work tirelessly ahead of the upcoming city corporation elections to safeguard votes. Shafiqur also urged activists to stand alongside the public and build a united front against what he described as criminal elements.

“No thief will be spared,” he said, calling on party members to devote themselves to election preparations day and night.

Shafiqur said the party had reviewed its shortcomings during the national election and expressed hope that applying the lessons learned would help prevent similar mistakes in the local polls.

He made the remarks on Friday as the chief guest at a members’ conference organised by Jamaat’s Dhaka North unit at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

Addressing party members, Shafiqur also emphasised the importance of seeking Allah’s help, saying the party could achieve nothing without divine assistance.

Reflecting on Jamaat’s organisational development in Dhaka, he said the party had once been in a considerably weaker position in the capital but had reached its current standing through sacrifice, dedication and hard work.

He added that the party would no longer remain a passive observer, saying it would protest when appropriate and build resistance wherever it had the capacity to do so.

Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, speaking as a special guest, said membership status should be viewed as a standard of personal principles and morality rather than a position or source of power.

Mohammad Selim Uddin, the party’s Dhaka North chief, said the organisation needed to improve the quality and discipline of its members alongside its growing membership.

During the second session of the conference, more than 13,000 members voted by secret ballot to elect the party’s chief for the Dhaka North unit. Selim Uddin was re-elected to the position for the 2027–2028 committee.

Other speakers included Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan, an MP, and Executive Council member Nurul Islam Bulbul, also an MP.