NCP will have to pay heavy price if it goes with Jamaat: Samantha Sharmin

Senior joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) Samantha Sharmeen has voiced clear opposition to any electoral alliance or seat-sharing arrangement with Jamaat-e-Islami.

She warned that if such a move is made, the NCP will have to pay a heavy price.

At a time when the NCP is witnessing internal rifts and resignations over discussions on seat-sharing with Jamaat-e-Islami, Samantha Sharmin outlined her position in a post on her Facebook account, Sunday morning.

The member of the NCP’s political council said, “Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is not a reliable ally. I believe that any cooperation or understanding with it, given its political stance and ideology, would force the NCP to pay a heavy price.”

Formed by young activists who were at the forefront of the July mass uprising, the National Citizen Party (NCP) has almost finalised a seat-sharing negotiations with Jamaat-e-Islami for the 13th parliamentary elections.

Raising objections to the move, Tasnim Jara, Tajnuva Jabeen and Mir Arshadul Hoque have already resigned from the party.

All three were included in the list of 125 candidates earlier announced by the NCP. In addition, 30 NCP leaders have submitted a memorandum to party convener Nahid Islam, expressing “objections in principal to a possible alliance.”

Former Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Arts student Samantha Sharmin wrote in her post that, according to NCP’s longstanding position, its core principles and vision for the state are completely distinct from those of Jamaat. NCP is a party built around justice, reforms and parliamentary elections under the Second Republic. Therefore, alignment on these three issues is a prerequisite for any political alliance. Her current stance is consistent with the party’s position over the past two years.

Samantha wrote that Jamaat had obstructed reforms by demanding proportional representation in the lower house, prompting NCP’s convener to declare, “There cannot be an alliance with those who are not in favour of reforms.”

Since the July march, the convenor and several leaders announced that NCP would contest in the 300 constituencies independently, calling for candidates from across the country to run on this basis, she added.

Samantha Sharmin further wrote that raising objections to an alliance with Jamaat does not mean taking a position in favour of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

On the contrary, she considers NCP’s stance, expressed over time and praised in various quarters, to be correct and sees herself as a soldier of this ideal. Any alliance with either BNP or Jamaat would depart from NCP’s organisational and political policy.