7 months ago
3
Bangladesh’s governmental scenery is undergoing a accelerated translation up of the wide predetermination which is to instrumentality spot successful February 2026. Student advisers and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, which extended enactment to the interim authorities from the beginning, are positioning themselves to marque the astir retired of the existent set-up and are efficaciously challenging the older two-party strategy featuring the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Signs of this caller governmental configuration were evident erstwhile Mohammed Yunus, Chief Adviser to the interim government, was seen astatine the 80th league of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) successful New York successful the institution of Naib Ameer of the JEI, person Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher and Tasneem Zara, a young person from the student-backed and recently formed National Citizen Party (NCP). The delegation besides included Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir of the BNP. But the beingness of astatine slightest 2 Jamaat leaders and the aged Alamgir showed that the NCP and the Jamaat person covered a large governmental region wrong the past year.
On the ground
There is sizeable vexation among the supporters of the Awami League and the BNP arsenic the enactment successful some parties is not responding to the changes that are sweeping crossed Bangladesh’s politics. With the formation of Awami League leaders from the country, Khaleda Zia’s BNP was the contiguous beneficiary arsenic it was expected to instrumentality complaint successful lawsuit an predetermination was held by December 2024 oregon January 2025. As the interim authorities delayed the election, the BNP chose to hold and became restive lone erstwhile it became wide that the students would signifier their ain party. In the process it mislaid invaluable clip and suffered reputational harm arsenic Bangladesh was rocked by a bid of convulsive incidents which included the brutal sidesplitting of Lal Chand Sohag, a trader successful Dhaka connected July 9, 2025. The BNP’s cadre had to carnivore the blame.
The erstwhile Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who is based successful New Delhi, has been successful interaction with her enactment cadre (the Awami League) connected the crushed but has not held a azygous property interaction, virtual oregon successful person. She has not designated anyone connected the crushed successful Dhaka arsenic the enactment has been banned since May 2025 (In October 2024 Awami League’s pupil helping was banned). Neither has she oregon her colleagues expressed remorse implicit the nonaccomplishment of lives successful the protests of July-August 2024.
At the aforesaid time, the BNP’s transportation for governmental powerfulness is anemic arsenic its apical enactment is inactive successful exile.
When elder BNP leaders organised a rally arsenic a amusement of the BNP’s spot successful May 2025 and accused Mr. Yunus of delaying elections — the enactment had demanded elections by December 2025 — the BNP’s Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman, addressed the gathering from his London location (he has been based present for astir 2 decades due to the fact that of his disputes with Ms. Hasina and the military). Sources successful the BNP person indicated that helium whitethorn instrumentality successful November but determination has been nary announcement of a definite day for his return.
That the BNP has inactive not been capable to bring backmost Mr. Rahman from London successful what is present a Hasina-free Bangladesh is simply a motion that its relations with the interim authorities are not arsenic mean arsenic they whitethorn appear. The BNP has not fixed a wide mentation for Mr. Rahman’s lack successful Dhaka, with the elections conscionable months away. The Awami League’s inability to delegate work to immoderate of its implicit crushed leaders specified arsenic Saber Hossain Chowdhury has besides not gone down good with the party’s accepted supporters. The party’s leaders who are successful exile person countered this with the enactment that delegating responsibilities would marque section leaders susceptible to terrible actions by the interim government. But the communal antheral successful Dhaka is of the sentiment that a deficiency of delegation by Ms. Hasina lone reveals the governmental insecurity of the Sheikh Hasina family.
The caller players
The NCP and the Jamaat are expanding unit connected Mr. Yunus to prohibition much governmental parties and present a proportional practice (PR) strategy for the election. Their statement is that the PR strategy would guarantee a “level playing tract for each governmental parties”. In fact, the PR strategy would summation unit connected the BNP which remains the sole inheritor of the older governmental strategy connected the ground. The BNP has besides been humiliated successful campuses aft facing decision successful the pupil national elections astatine Jahangirnagar University and Dhaka University wherever Jamaat-backed pupil panels won. Jamaat-student coordination connected campuses is supported by the information that immoderate of the pupil activists were trained nether the Jamaat’s pupil wing, Shibir.
There are respective takeaways from the emerging plot. First, the BNP’s long-held statement that an interim authorities would beryllium apolitical has been proved wrong. During the regularisation of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League, the BNP was the strongest proponent of an interim authorities to behaviour credible elections. Yet, the 2024 interim government, which the BNP had welcomed initially, has successful crook thrown up caller challengers for the BNP. If the BNP wins the predetermination successful 2026 oregon manages to look arsenic the azygous largest party, it would beryllium due to the fact that the past of the two-party-led strategy inactive has important entreaty successful Bangladesh.
The Army’s muted stand
Second, the intermission successful two-party authorities nether the interim authorities has been a world cheque for the Bangladesh military. Unlike his predecessors specified arsenic General Ershad, the existent Bangladesh Army chief, Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, has refrained from nonstop interference successful the governmental domain adjacent though the service took implicit magisterial powers pursuing the superior deterioration successful the instrumentality and bid situation. On occasions, Gen. Zaman has said that the subject could measurement successful if the interim authorities makes compromises successful areas that the service considers captious for Bangladesh’s security.
The Bangladesh army’s existent trial is expected successful wintertime 2025 erstwhile authorities volition vigor up successful Dhaka arsenic the International Crimes Tribunal is to deliberate connected the aboriginal of Ms. Hasina and her colleagues. At the moment, the service appears to beryllium nether pressure. In December 2024, Gen. Zaman was palmy successful scuttling the motorboat of the alleged July Proclamation that aimed to regenerate the 1972 constitution. But helium could not bash this connected August 5, 2025 erstwhile Mr. Yunus announced it arsenic a guiding papers for Bangladesh.
Third, wrong the nationalism-centric enactment strategy of Bangladesh, the Jamaat-e-Islami, with its pro-Pakistan past of 1971, is yet to marque a convincing nationalist transportation for the elections arsenic it continues to beryllium an organisation with a transnational ideological web crossed aggregate countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Pakistan. If the pupil leaders of the NCP and the Jamaat enactment tin proceed to support the BNP nether unit during the interim medication (it has already banned the Awami League), a caller governmental bloc featuring the Jamaat and fashionable pupil activists could good look arsenic a determining unit successful the election. The Jamaat has a past of aligning with the BNP arsenic a inferior spouse during 2001-06 (during 1991-96, it gave extracurricular enactment to the BNP), but with the students, it could look arsenic a elder partner.
Finally, the revival of the Jamaat and its riding the question with fashionable pupil activists would supply it the conveyance that it has been searching for long. With this, it would beryllium capable to reinvent its problematic representation and merge into the mainstream authorities of Bangladesh.
kallol.b@thehindu.co.in
