The BNP turned its four-party alliance into a 20-party unit to mount psychological pressure on the Awami League by playing the numbers game. But only a few years later, the strategy has apparently backfired with some allies breaking away and others threatening to, eventually resulting in embarrassment for the BNP.
Recently, Sheikh Showkat Hossain Nilu, former chairman of alliance partner National People’s Party (NPP), has been reportedly trying to form a separate political cartel. Nilu, who is originally from Gopalganj, has been trying to convince some leaders to leave the 20-party alliance and join the proposed Democratic National Front, his brainchild.
Sources said the announcement about the formation of the new alliance might come on September 25.
Some alliance leaders have accused the ruling Awami League of trying to weaken the BNP-led alliance by luring some of its leaders to break away.
The alliance leaders alleged that Nilu had been trying to cash in on the frustration that had been created among the alliance partners after failing to resist the January 5 election through which the Awami League had come to power for the second time on the trot. The toothless anti-government movement is also seen as a reason behind the mounting frustration.
On Sunday, Alamgir Majumdar, secretary general of alliance partner National Democratic Party (NDP), issued a 72-hour ultimatum to alliance chief Khaleda Zia and threatened to form a new coalition unless their five-point demands were met.
Alamgir said the BNP needed to clarify its stance regarding India and the religion-based political parties, and also ensure greater democracy within the alliance. He accused the BNP of making important decisions unilaterally.
Over the past couple of years, a number of leaders claimed to have left the alliance with their parties. But the alliance, or the BNP for that matter, has always managed to keep the alliance unbroken.
According to the Election Commission, only 12 of the 20 parties in the combine have proper registration.
Therefore, whenever the leader of an unregistered party announced to leaving, the BNP managed someone else to become the chief of that party, just to show that the alliance was in tact. Since the party does not have registration, both factions could claim themselves to be the main one.
The parties with EC registrations are: BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Khelafat Mojlish (Ishak), Liberal Democratic Party, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, Bangladesh Kalyan Party, National People’s Party, Bangladesh National Awami Party, Jamiyote Olamaye Islami Bangladesh and Bangladesh Muslim League.
The National Democratic Party, Bangladesh Labour Party, Bangladesh Islamic Party, Democratic League (Oli Ahad), National Awami Party-Bhasani (NAP), People’s League, JaPa (Zafar) and Sammobadi Dal are not registered.
In March, NAP-Bhasani left the alliance, but soon a new faction was formed under the leadership of Azharul Islam that remained loyal to the BNP. Before becoming the chief of NAP-Bhashani, Azharul was the Gaibandha district vice-president of Bangladesh Kalyan Party, another alliance partner.
After that, Sheikh Showkat Hossain Nilu left the alliance, but before that he had been expelled from the NPP. After his expulsion, secretary general Fariduzzaman Farhad took charge and remained with the alliance.
More recently, NDP Secretary General Alamgir Majumdar expelled Chairman Golam Mortuza and threatened to leave the alliance, but Mortuza said he was still with the alliance.
The Muslim League also split into two factions – one led by Kamruzzaman Khan and the other by Jobaida Quader Chowdhury, elder sister of Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury. As of today, both the factions are with the alliance; but reportedly Jobaida’s faction was going to break away and join Nilu’s proposed alliance.
Apart from them, Bangladesh Islamic Party acting chairman Abdur Rashid Prodhan and Bangladesh Labour Party leader Sekandar Ali Moni are also reportedly thinking about abandoning BNP’s alliance.
Paper-based parties
Most of the partners of the BNP-led 20-party alliance are basically one-man organisations existing only on papers.
Apart from the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) and Khelafat Mojlish, most of the other parties have very little or no organisational presence around the country.
After being sacked by HM Ershad from the Jatiya Party (JaPa) before the January election, Kazi Zafar formed a faction under the same name and joined the BNP-led alliance after the election. But since then, he has mostly remained ill and therefore there has been no visible activity of his party.
Former BNP leader Col (retd) Oli Ahmed’s Liberal Democratic Party has some activities in the greater Chittagong area.
Andaleeve Rahman Partha’s Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) is one of the original four members of the alliance. Although Partha is a good orator, the organisational structure of his party is very weak.
The same goes for Maj Gen (retd) Syed Ibrahim, chief of another one-man unit Bangladesh Kalyan Party. Ibrahim is also a good speaker and a well-known face in the media but his party has always remained a back-bencher in the alliance.
Jamiote Ulamaye Islam Chairman Mufti Wakkas has some followers in Sylhet but his follower base in the capital is insignificant. He has regularly remained absent from the alliance meetings as well.
NAP, Labour Party, Muslim League and the NPP do not have any formal organisational structure and are rarely seen during any programme of the 20-party alliance. They have been hardly seen in the streets during the various protests that the alliance have staged over the past few years. On most occasions, their activities remain limited to issuing press releases and staging human chains.
Democratic League Chairman Mominul Haque has reportedly gone into retirement and General Secretary Saifuddin Moni is now the showstopper of the party that exists only on papers.
Andaleeve Rahman Partha told the Dhaka Tribune: “Basically, the 20-party alliance is like a platform for the smaller parties from where they can raise their voices.”
Alleging that the government had been trying to create rift in the alliance just to embarrass the parties, Partha said: “If the leaders of the small political parties keep on wasting their energies by thinking about what they got and what they have not, then they may leave the alliance.”
Referring to the new cartel that former alliance leader Nilu had been trying to form, Partha said: “In the 20-party alliance, only BNP and Jamaat has strong organisational strengths for moving in the field. It is true that the BNP and the Awami League are alternatives to each other. So, it will not be possible for any other alliance to leave a mark.”
Garib Newaz, chairman of the People’s League, admitted that he had got offers from some people for leaving the alliance; but he was determined not to.
“Only some greedy mid-level leaders of some parties have left the alliance. They did so for their personal interests. But there is no place of personal interests in politics,” he said.
The government’s plan to take down the 20-party alliance will only result in the formation of some more paper-based parties,” Newaz said.
Shafiul Alam Prodhan, president of JagPa, said: “The government has plundered large amounts money. It is now just using that money through the agencies to reap the alliance apart. Ershad tried the same thing when he was in power, but he failed. It may be embarrassing us right now, but in the long run, Hasina will be the loser.”
BNP to wait and watch
The current tension that some dissident leaders have created has reportedly been hampering the reorganisation process of the BNP, the biggest component of the 20-party alliance.
Seeking anonymity, a BNP leader said: “This psychological war may have damaged the BNP’s image to some extent. But it is one of the biggest political parties in the country. So, why should it rely on the parties that exist only on papers. Most of the alliance partners do not have any influence. Even when they form human chains, BNP leaders have to give the money. Why then should we shoulder the burden?”
As for the time being, the BNP has decided to try and make sure that the number of partners in the alliance does not come below 20.
It has decided to wait and see how things turn out to be and fix a strategy after the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha by holding a series of meetings of its standing committee and the alliance partners.
