MASUM BILLAH
DHAKA — University professor Rabiul Alam was among the thousands gathered at a rally in Bangladesh’s capital in late December to mark the end of a transformative year for the South Asian nation.
The event in Dhaka was organized by a student group that had spearheaded a mass uprising which ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina months earlier, ushering in a caretaker government set on remaking the country’s democracy.
Now, the movement that brought down Hasina — who faces accusations of rights abuses and corruption during her 15-year tenure — is set to launch a new political party, with an eye to smashing the longtime duopoly held by Hasina’s Awami League and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Alam traveled from the port city Chittagong, about 250 kilometers southeast of Dhaka, to support what the students are calling a “new political settlement.”
“We are ready to back a transparent and fair political party,” he told Nikkei Asia. “If [they] evolve into a political party with something fresh to attract the youth — an appealing manifesto, a genuine connection with the people — I believe they’ll garner spontaneous public support.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with Hasina in New Delhi on June 22, 2024. Hasina was later ousted as prime minister of Bangladesh and fled to India. © ReutersThe students’ success in this new political arena remains to be seen. And some have raised concerns about their connections to resurgent Islamist parties in the Muslim-majority nation.
But the movement’s leaders say they’ve been campaigning across the country of 171 million with a message focused on “human dignity” and overhauling Bangladesh’s political systems, including the constitution, which they argue had long legitimized the Awami League.
The interim government, led by microcredit pioneer and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has vowed to shut Hasina’s party out of elections, which could be held by the end of this year. The new government is also reportedly mulling an outright ban on the Awami League.
“The response from the people has been overwhelmingly positive. They tell us, ‘You toppled Hasina; only you can build a new Bangladesh,'” said Akhtar Hossain, a top student leader, adding that the new party would contest all of the country’s 300 parliamentary seats.
“Our politics will be policy-driven. We will practice interparty democracy, prioritize the human dignity of citizens, empowering them to speak out against corruption … and injustice. We aim to foster just governance and elevate the citizens’ sense of rights and accountability,” Hossain added.
After independence in 1971, Bangladesh saw years of military governments. By the early 1990s, a fledgling democracy set in with the Awami League and the BNP — led by Hasina’s nemesis and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia — trading nearly equal time in power.
But national polls in 2014, boycotted by the BNP and other opposition parties, were tainted by claims of election rigging that dogged the ruling party for years.
Hasina secured a fourth consecutive term in the 2024 vote, which was again boycotted by the opposition. Then a protest against public-sector job quotas mushroomed into a movement that forced Hasina from power.
She quickly fled to longtime ally India, which has yet to accept Dhaka’s demand to extradite the 77-year-old back to Bangladesh to face charges, including allegations of murder and kidnapping.
Last week, thousands of protesters set fire to the former home of Bangladesh’s founding president, the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is also Hasina’s father. The protest came as Hasina delivered an angry social media speech calling on supporters to turn against the caretaker government.
Protesters and observers gather to see the demolished residence of Hasina’s father, Bangladesh independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in Dhaka on Feb. 6. © ReutersBefore Hasina was deposed, the rival BNP also took to the streets to demand free and fair elections, and has claimed that more than 1,000 of its members were killed during her tenure.
More than 800 people are thought to have been killed in clashes between protesters and Hasina’s security forces last summer.
“What set us apart from the BNP and other political parties is our consistent presence on the ground,” said Mahfuj Alam, a student leader now serving as an adviser in the Yunus-led interim government. “While others fled, we stayed, even as bodies fell.”
The memory of the uprising is still fresh and people sympathize with the students for leading it, said Syeda Salina Aziz, a fellow of politics and governance at Dhaka’s BRAC Institute of Governance and Development.
“However, the success of their political movement will depend on how well they connect with the people and fulfill their aspirations,” she added.
Yunus’ government created a half dozen reform commissions to propose changes to key institutions, including the electoral system, police, judiciary and anti-corruption agency. Among their recommendations is a two-term limit for future Bangladeshi leaders.
It’s not clear who will helm the students’ party, set to be announced this month. But Hossain said a pool of qualified people are being brought together to form its leadership.
“All the gems will be gathered to form a garland,” he said. “There will be no individual leadership in our party, as we are advocating for leadership by many.”
Microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus was tapped to lead Bangladesh’s caretaker government after Hasina’s fall. © ReutersDhaka-based political analyst Dilara Choudhury cautioned against that strategy, saying the students would need a “charismatic leader” and a program that resonates with the electorate to be a success in Bangladeshi politics.
“A leader capable of effectively communicating the program to the public is key. If they can achieve that, they have a bright future. Students are popular now and people may be drawn to a new party, as they have grown weary of the BNP-Awami League duopoly,” she said.
For its part, the BNP said it was not opposed to a new rival on the political scene. But BNP Organizing Secretary Shama Obaed added that the new party could be tainted by the students’ close connections to the caretaker government.
The students had asked Yunus — who had never been a politician — to lead the country after Hasina’s fall, and several were appointed to top jobs in his new government.
Hossain, however, dismissed conflict-of-interest concerns.
“We are building a political party that represents the genuine interest and enthusiasm of the people,” he said. “The emergence of a new party sometimes creates a crisis for the existing ones.”
source : asia.nikkei