12 parties of BNP-led combine form new alliance
Two weeks after the BNP-led 20-party alliance was dissolved on December 9, a total of 12 components of the party alliance on Thursday formed a separate coalition without eight other parties, including the BNP, Jamaat and LDP.
Since the 20-party alliance led by BNP is no longer active, the new alliance has been formed in order to forge an anti-government movement.
As a result, the BNP as well as its alliance seems to have lost its strength and the anti-movement movement may be weaker.
On the other hand, some of the parties, which earlier were the components of the 20-party alliance, are now displeased with the formation of a new platform without them.
A press conference at the National Press Club unveiled the separate alliance with 12 components of the 20-party alliance.
Bangladesh Labour Party Chairman DrMustafizur Rahman Iran, addressing the press, said that the alliance will stand in support of BNP and its 27-point outline to restore democracy in the country.
The 12 parties in the alliance are --Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) led by Chairman Mostafa Jamal Haider, Bangladesh Kalyan Party led by Maj Gen (retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim BirProtik, Bangladesh Labour Party led by DrMustafizur Rahman Iran, Bangladesh Jatiya Dal led by Syed-Ehsanul Huda, NDP led by K M Abu Taher, LDP led by LDP Shahadat Hossain Selim, Bangladesh Muslim League led by Advocate Zulfikar Bulbul Chowdhury, JamiatUlema-e-Islam Bangladesh led by Mufti MohiuddinIkram, IslamiOikyajote led by MaulanaAbdurRakib, Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal led by Nurul Islam, Bangladesh Islamic Party led by Advocate AbulKasem, and JatiyaGanatantrik Party (JAGPA) led by Barrister Tasmia Pradhan.
Alongside the declaration of the new alliance, it also unveiled its seven-point demand at the press conference.
Despite going in a different direction, the new coalition will be firmly in the BNP's corner throughout the election cycle, Mostafa Jamal Haider, president of the Kazi Zafar Ahmed-led Jatiya Party faction, said while announcing the formation of the alliance.
"I can emphatically say that we are united in heart and mind with the BNP, the largest opposition party in the country, and our bond will remain unbreakable. We are proceeding in a slightly different direction and strategy to bring all political parties that are opposed to this fascist government, together."
On the breakup of the 20-party alliance, Jamal said there was "no room for misunderstandings" as he underlined the new coalition's commitment to the anti-government movement initiated by the BNP.
The BNP expanded its four-party coalition to a 20-party alliance in April 2012, with the aim of building a movement against the Awami League government.
The BNP-led alliance participated in the 2018 national election under the banner of the JatiyaOikya Front, which also included Kamal Hossain's Gono Forum, ASM AbdurRab'sJatiyaSamajtantrik Dal and Kader Siddiqui's KrishakSramik Janata League.
But the Oikya Front was soundly defeated at the polls, garnering only eight of the 300 parliamentary seats. After the election, the Oikya Front seemingly went into the political wilderness while the BNP also failed to mobilise the 20-party alliance in its campaign to remove the Awami League from power.
