Key Highlights
- The coalition is called the ‘Gonotantrik Sangskar Jote’. The development has sparked questions over whether Bangladesh is moving beyond its long-dominant Begum–Hasina political paradigm. The NCP, created in February this year with encouragement from Interim Government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, emerged from Students Against Discrimination (SAD), the group that led last year’s protests which resulted in the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on 5 August 2024. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAnnouncing the alliance, NCP convenor Nahid Islam said it was the product of more than two years of effort.
- He described the coming election as one aimed at “political transformation and economic liberation”, with the alliance committed to building a “new Bangladesh”. More from World The death sentence that shames Bangladesh: Why Sheikh Hasina’s trial was a constitutional farce Bangladesh tribunal issues arrest warrant for Hasina’s son over July Uprising chargesRise of new actors as mainstream parties lose groundThree student leaders, including Islam, served on the advisory council formed by Yunus after he became chief adviser on 8 August 2024.
- Islam later stepped down to organise the NCP’s formation. The AB party, founded in 2020, had split from Jamaat-e-Islami on ideological grounds.
- Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, has recently formed an eight-party Islamist coalition as it attempts to build unity among similar groups ahead of the polls. Yunus’ administration dissolved Hasina’s Awami League, leaving Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as the strongest remaining political force.
- However, the BNP continues to be directed from London by her exiled son and acting chairman, Tarique Rahman. Analysts say the weakening of the two major political parties has created space for Jamaat and other far-right groups to expand their influence in Bangladesh’s shifting political landscape. Quick ReadsView AllUkraine war: Putin’s latest order to Russia army signals he’s not budging from his demandsRelos deal with Russia expands India's maritime footprint and ambitionsHasina and Zia: the fading dominance of two political matriarchsSheikh Hasina served as prime minister in 1996–2001 and again from 2009 until her resignation and flight from Bangladesh in August 2024.
