The country’s largest Islamist party announced a seat-sharing agreement with a political grouping formed by students who spearheaded last year’s uprising, some of whose members oppose the alliance.
Jamaat-e-Islami appears determined to gain a foothold in government through next year’s general election, the first polls since the student-led revolt toppled prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
Islamist movements that were crushed under Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule have regrouped since her fall, and Jamaat regards the Feb 12 vote as its biggest opportunity in decades.
On Sunday, Jamaat said it had reached an agreement with the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) following marathon talks, during which some NCP members warned against the move.
Jamaat leader Shafiqur Rahman announced a separate agreement with the small Liberal Democratic Party.
Ahead of the tie-up with the Jamaat, at least 30 NCP members wrote to party chief Nahid Islam, opposing the plan to join hands.
Senior party figure Samantha Sharmin warned in a social media post on Sunday that the party would have to pay a “high price” for its alliance with the group.
But Nahid defended the alliance, saying it was “not an ideological agreement, but an electoral alliance”.
“To ensure a free, fair, and competitive election, and to prevent the return of hegemonic forces, the NCP felt the need for broader unity,” he said at a media briefing.
He also promised to pursue an agenda focused on “reforms, justice, and opposition to hegemony and corruption”. — AFP
