Just days after joining a new political coalition led by Dr Kamal Hossain, losing two allies from the 20-party Alliance has left the BNP in shock.
On Tuesday, The National Democratic Party (NDP) and Bangladesh NAP announced that they have severed ties with the BNP-led alliance.
“We are surprised. The secretaries general of the two parties were at the Oct 15 meeting of the 20-party Alliance, when they agreed with the coalition’s decision. The reason they cited for walking out was not raised during that meeting,” senior BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan, who serves as the coordinator of the alliance, told Bangla Tribune.
Describing it as a misunderstanding, he said they hope that the parties will rejoin the alliance.
“We have a longstanding relationship. They have spoken about two issues, including the election. The BNP and the 20-party Alliance are yet to decide on taking part in the polls and the schedules have not been announced. So the issue of parliamentary seats is yet to be addressed,” said Khan, a member of the BNP’s policymaking National Standing Committee.
According to him, the matter of elections can’t be the reason for walking out. “If we had discussed the issue then the opinion of leaders would have been considered.”
Khan’s colleague in the BNP policymaking forum Jamiruddin Sircar says that the two parties ‘lack commitment’.
“Political parties weigh several factors ahead of the polls. But the thing is, they have to be committed. The allies have been in a struggle to restore democracy for 10 years. It’s really odd when someone walks out and it shows a lack of commitment,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Others, however, say that except for Jamaat-e-Islami, the allies in the coalition are nothing but merely numbers.
“Except for the BNP and Jamaat, the other parties in the alliance, have no organisational activities other than holding discussions at the press club. The departure of these small parties will not damage the coalition,” said a BNP Standing Committee member, who preferred anonymity.
BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu sees the rift in coalitions as ‘a part of the process.’
“BNP believes in individualism, freedom of speech. Rifts in alliance are a part of the process. Those who are with us had left previously. But it will be unusual, if more allies chose to walk out,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Chairman of Bangladesh NAP Jebel Rahman Gani and NDP Chairman Khandaker Golam Mortuza announced their decisions to cut ties with the BNP-led grouping, at a media call.
Gani said they were disappointed with how the new anti-government alliance’s leadership treated Bikalpa Dhara chief AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury.
“From this very moment NAP and NDP have severed all ties with the 20-party Alliance,” said Gani, the grandson of the late politician Mashiur Rahman, also known as Jadu Mia.
The parties blamed the BNP turning to the so-called 1/11 actors who actively backed the then emergency regime.
“Most of the people who played the leading role in the formation of alliance masterminded the 1/11 government. Many of them were involved in the implementation of the minus two formula,” said NAP chief Gani.
On Saturday (Oct 13), the BNP, Gano Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s Naogorik Oikya and ASM Adbur Rab’s Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) launched the new alliance leaving out Badruddoza’s Bikalpa Dhara.
Mainul Hosein, an adviser to the military-installed caretaker administration, is an active member of the new alliance.
Sultan Muhammed Mansur Ahmad, former DUCSU vice-president, fell out with the Awami League, just like Manna, who was identified as a reformist during the emergency rule.
The ruling Awami League described the new coalition as a network of ‘power-hungry conspirators and corrupt people.’