BNP forms 12-party alliance, vows to oust ruling Awami League in general elections early next year

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced a new alliance of 12-parties in Dhaka on Thursday.

Dhaka: In an effort to challenge the ruling Awami League (AL) in the next general elections scheduled to be held in January 2024, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced a new alliance of 12-parties in Dhaka.

Ahead of the country’s 12^th parliamentary elections, the leaders of the 12-party alliance said that they had agreed to join hands and begin a simultaneous movement against the government, citing their common demands, which include holding elections under a neutral caretaker government and resignation of the incumbent Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The alliance also announced its support for the 27-point agenda of “structural reform of the state” announced by the BNP earlier and hinted that they would work towards ousting the ruling Awami League in the next election.

The BNP also simultaneously dissolved the 20-party alliance that it had formed over a decade ago requesting the constituent parties not to use the name ‘20-party alliance’ for their programs. The move is seen by political analysts as an effort by the BNP to distance itself from Jamaat-e-Islami which is considered a hardline Islamic party opposed to many of the basic ideas of the 1971 Liberation War led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Earlier, many well-known leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami have been found guilty of working with the Pakistan army and hanged for war crimes. Jamaat-e-Islami was part of the BNP led government during 2001-2006. On 13 December, the chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami Shafiqur Rahman was arrested for his alleged links with Bangladesh-based extremists. His son was also arrested on similar charges.

In a separate development, another alliance of left-leaning political parties under the banner of ‘Ganatantra Mancha’ has announced that they will hold rallies demanding much needed changes in governance in Bangladesh.

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