The BNP has decided that members of the 20-party alliance will no longer hold programs under the same banner, and instead organize individual events.
Members of the BNP top brass say the decision has been communicated to the Jamaat leadership, who had no objection. Leaders of other members of the alliance also appear to be in agreement.
BNP insiders hint that the move was aimed at finally cutting out long-time ally Jamaat-e-Islam, as several members of the alliance were disgruntled with associating with the Islamist party that regularly courts controversy. BNP has not organized a public rally with Jamaat in three years.
However, BNP leaders maintain that holding separate programs is not a sign that the alliance was in turmoil, but part of a strategy for the 12th general elections. The members of the alliance will continue to hold meetings in order to coordinate their activities, though they will not officially organize any events together.
When asked if BNP was planning to cut out Jamaat, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “We have not made any plan to exclude the public partner of our alliance.”
He added that a final decision on the holding of separate programs had yet to be taken.
A mid-level leader of BNP told the Dhaka Tribune the policy makers of the alliance had reached a consensus on the resignation of the ruling government and the holding of simultaneous programs with like-minded opposition political parties to hold elections under a neutral government.
BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said: “A movement becomes stronger when different groups work for the same cause in their own ways. The holding of separate programs can be an effective strategy.”
Jamaat Central Publicity Affairs Secretary and Executive Committee Member Matiur Rahman Akanda said the party had accepted the decision on organizing programs.
“Jamaat will do whatever is strategically best for success in the anti-government movement. If the alliance expands or there is an anti-government movement from their respective platforms, there is no objection,” he added.
He further said Jamaat was still a part of the 20-party alliance and had no plans to leave it.
Other Jamaat leaders declined to comment.
What do other alliance members say?
Coalition partners said BNP had already communicated their plan to organize separate programs and most of the alliance members appear to be in agreement.
General Secretary of Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (Jagpa) Khandakar Luttfur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune: “Everyone will struggle from their own place...they will agitate as part of the anti-government movement, and organize their own meetings and processions. This was the proposal that came from BNP, and we have no objection.”
Liberal Democratic Party President Oli Ahmed said: “We think this plan will take the form of a huge movement from different places all across Bangladesh.”
On January 6, 1999, BNP announced the formation of a four-party alliance with the Jatiya Party, Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote. On April 18, 2012, it became the 18-party alliance, before eventually becoming the 20-party alliance.
