NCP wants to keep Jamaat ‘in line’ while remaining in alliance

The National Citizen Party (NCP), a partner in the same alliance, is dissatisfied with some of Jamaat-e-Islami’s recent political positions. The party’s policymakers believe Jamaat has become too accommodating towards the government in its role as an opposition party.

Against this backdrop, NCP has adopted a strategy of putting pressure on Jamaat still remaining part of the 11-party alliance. At the same time, the party wants to assert its own distinct political identity as well.

Prothom Alo learned of this stance after speaking to seven members of NCP’s political council, its highest policymaking body.

The growing distance between the two parties has come into focus through senior NCP leaders’ public criticism of Jamaat’s role in the recent by-election in Thakurgaon-1 and NCP’s limited participation in the 11-party alliance’s Khulna divisional long march on 31 October. NCP leaders, however, have said they do not want to leave the alliance.

In September, almost all the senior leaders of NCP, including convener Nahid Islam and member secretary Akhtar Hossain, took part in person in the first two long marches organised by the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.

However, NCP’s participation in the alliance’s Khulna divisional long march on 31 October was merely ‘symbolic’. The party’s two top leaders did not attend.

Instead, on the day before the Khulna long march, the NCP organised a mass protest programme in the capital’s Shahbagh area. The party also conducted a week-long publicity campaign around the programme. During that campaign, NCP leaders made no mention of the long march, although they had been quite vocal ahead of the previous two marches.

These developments surrounding the 31 October long march have brought renewed attention to the ‘distance’ between the NCP and its alliance partner, Jamaat.

NCP policymakers say recent developments have led them to believe that Jamaat is forgetting its role as a genuine opposition party and becoming too accommodating towards the government. The NCP wants to put pressure on Jamaat to prevent it from becoming overly ‘effusive’ towards the government or the ruling party.

A senior NCP leader said they wanted to keep Jamaat ‘in line’ by criticising it while remaining in the 11-party alliance. This would also help counter what the leader described as ‘malicious propaganda’ claiming that the NCP was being absorbed into Jamaat. It would therefore help the party preserve its distinct identity.

Voting in the by-election for the Thakurgaon-1 constituency took place on 29 October. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Faisal Amin (brother of President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir) was unofficially declared elected after securing 227,917 votes.

His closest rival, Jamaat candidate Delawar Hossain, received 96,513 votes. The gap between the winning and losing candidates was 131,404 votes.

However, even before the results were announced, Jamaat called a protest, alleging irregularities, ballot stuffing and that polling agents had been beaten and forced out of polling stations.

But the following day, around noon, the winning BNP candidate visited the Jamaat candidate’s home with a bouquet of flowers. The two embraced and exchanged sweets. They also expressed their resolve to work together for the development of the area.

While this was happening in Thakurgaon, the picture in Dhaka was quite different. On the afternoon of 30 October, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar held a press conference at the party’s central office in Moghbazar in the capital.

He said ballot papers had been stamped in advance, fake votes cast and polling agents driven out of polling stations during the Thakurgaon-1 by-election.

If the Election Commission secretary and chief denied the irregularities, it would mean that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the EC secretary had colluded with those responsible. They had failed to do justice to their constitutional positions, he added.

NCP leaders publicly criticised what they described as Jamaat’s ‘double standards’. The first to speak out was former adviser to the interim government and NCP Senior Joint Member Secretary Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain. Hasnat Abdullah, a member of parliament and NCP senior joint convener, also criticised the party.

Speaking at a mass protest in Shahbagh on the afternoon of 30 October, Asif Mahmud said, “There was a by-election in Thakurgaon. From the morning, we saw presiding officers in various places stamping ballot papers in advance, and they were caught doing so.”

“What is deeply disappointing is that we see the candidate from the ruling party and the opposition candidate exchanging sweets with each other. Our democracy is going through a period of severe crisis and distress,” he added.

Hasnat Abdullah also criticised Jamaat’s role in the Thakurgaon by-election while attending a roadside rally in Jashore as an NCP representative during the Khulna long march.

Although he did not name any party, Hasnat said, “We cannot claim from Dhaka that there was vote rigging and then accept the results. That is not how an opposition party should act. We cannot say there was vote rigging and then go and exchange sweets. That is not what opposition means.”

Following these public remarks by Asif Mahmud and Hasnat Abdullah, discussion about the ‘distance’ between Jamaat and NCP has intensified in political circles. Over the past few days, supporters of the two parties have also made posts countering eac other on Facebook.

Various Facebook accounts supporting Jamaat have claimed that the NCP wants Jamaat’s backing in at least one of the two Dhaka city corporation elections in the upcoming local government polls. According to these accounts, the NCP is trying to put pressure on Jamaat in order to secure that support.

However, NCP Joint Convener Ariful Islam Adeeb told Prothom Alo, “Some of Jamaat’s political positions are creating distrust among the public. For example, it makes very strong statements on the streets but takes the opposite position in parliament, and gives the government its blank support during labour movements.”

“That is why we have taken a separate position. Our stance is essentially political. There is no question of bargaining here,” he added.

Prothom Alo spoke to seven members of NCP’s political council, the party’s highest policymaking body, to understand the reasons behind the apparent ‘rift’ between the NCP and Jamaat.

They said NCP has come to feel that Jamaat did not want to put pressure on the government during its first two years in office. Instead, it wanted to proceed somewhat cautiously and take things slowly.

The NCP, however, does not agree with this approach. It is therefore maintaining its own distinct tone, which is at times creating distance between the two parties, they said.

One member of NCP’s political council said, “When Jamaat tries to put pressure on the government over various issues and then holds formal or informal discussions with it, the party becomes somewhat accommodating. This has an impact on the other parties in the opposition alliance.”

“When Jamaat puts pressure on the government, the other parties also adopt the same stance. But when it suddenly becomes accommodating, the other parties are left in an awkward position. This is what we are trying to address,” added the NCP leader.

An NCP policymaker said that whenever the 11-party alliance takes a political position, it should be based on discussions involving all the parties in the alliance.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that when Jamaat suddenly adopts a more accommodating stance towards the BNP without informing the other parties, it creates an awkward situation. If being accommodating towards the government is part of a strategy, the other alliance partners should also be informed.

The leader also cited several reasons behind this perception of NCP. These included Jamaat Ameer and opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman’s demand for a special committee on constitutional reform during the first session of the current parliament on 31 March. He had proposed that the committee have equal numbers of members from the ruling and opposition parties.

NCP was also uncomfortable with Shafiqur Rahman’s remarks in parliament on 7 September that the ongoing energy crisis was not caused by the current government. The party also believes that Jamaat’s initial position on the recent labour protests was not appropriate.

NCP leaders said they wanted to keep pressure on Jamaat to ensure that it properly fulfils its role as an opposition party. They said NCP wanted to pursue genuine opposition politics. They also claimed that Jamaat had changed its earlier positions on several issues as a result of pressure from the NCP.

Despite seeking to put pressure on Jamaat, NCP has no intention of leaving the 11-party alliance. On this, the party’s Joint Convener Sarwar Tusher told Prothom Alo, “Breaking up the alliance or creating a rift within it, is part of the government’s agenda. We are not falling into that trap.”