BNP dissolved 20 partners, form 12-party alliance in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, ahead of general elections due in January 2024, opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced a new alliance of 12 parties in Dhaka. Leaders from the 12-party alliance said that they have agreed to come together to launch a simultaneous movement against the government on their common demand including holding elections under a neutral caretaker government and resignation of the Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The 12-party alliance also announced its support for the 27-point outline of ‘structural reform of the state’ announced by BNP earlier. Simultaneously, the BNP also dissolved the 20-party alliance formed over a decade ago requesting the constituent parties not to use the name ‘20-party alliance’ for their programmes. The move is seen by political analysts as an effort by the BNP to distance itself from Jamaat-e-Islami which is considered a hard-line Islamic party opposed to many of the basic ideals of the 1971 Liberation War led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Many of the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami have been found guilty of collaborating with the Pakistan army and hanged for war crimes earlier. Jamaat-e-Islami was part of the BNP-led government during 2001-2006. Earlier on 13 December, the Chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami Shafiqur Rahman was arrested for his alleged links with extremists in Bangladesh. His son was also arrested earlier on similar charges. Meanwhile, another combination of left-leaning political parties under the banner of ‘Ganatantra Mancha’ has announced that it will hold rallies demanding changes in the government and governance in Bangladesh.