What does National Citizen Party mean by 'Second Republic'?

The National Citizen Party (NCP), a political party led by the young leaders of the July mass uprising, aims to establish a 'Second Republic' in the country. The party's convener, Mohammad Nahid Islam, announced this during the party's inaugural event on Friday. However, it is unclear to many what the party truly means by 'Second Republic.'

The concept of a 'Second Republic' is closely associated with the history of France. It is also linked to the histories of several other countries, including Poland and Costa Rica. It refers to a political idea that has been used in different contexts in various countries. In general, it denotes the process of changing the previous system of governance and adopting a new political arrangement or framework, which can occur through revolution, uprising, or other forms of transformation.

For example, France, once a monarchy, underwent the French Revolution between 1789 and 1799, which led to the fall of the monarchy. During the revolution, in 1792, France declared its first republic. The first republic lasted until 1804, after which the monarchy was reinstated. The monarchy continued until 1848, when the Second Republic was declared. The Second Republic lasted until 1852. Despite its brief duration, the 'Second Republic' remains an important chapter in French history. France, after several shifts in governance, is now under its Fifth Republic.

When asked what the National Citizen Party means by the term 'Second Republic,' the senior joint convener of the party, Ariful Islam Adib, explained that they are referring to the need to reconstruct the constitution and the state based on the unified struggles and aspirations of the people of this land.

Ariful Islam said, “The First Republic was the independence we gained through our great Liberation War. The constitution formulated after the war had some structural flaws, which made the government and prime ministers authoritarian and fascist. This structure has been repeatedly amended.”

He further added that over the past 15 years, fascism has taken root, and to remove this fascism, 2,000 people have become martyrs. The constitution must be restructured in a way that prevents any future government from turning fascist.

Ariful Islam said, "State institutions must be strengthened and made independent so that citizens can grow stronger and state institutions serve as protectors of the people. For these changes, radical amendments to the constitution are necessary, which they refer to as the 'Second Republic.'

Ariful Islam went on to say, “For the past six months, we have been referring to this as the 'Second Republic' or the July Declaration. After the First Republic, the Second Republic has occurred in many countries, like in France and Korea, where they had two to five republics. There is no problem with that.”

When asked if the National Citizen Party had any specific proposals regarding the 'Second Republic,' Ariful Islam said, "We had initially called for the cancellation of the current constitution, but consensus on this had not been reached. However, if the 'Second Republic' is established, significant changes to the constitution could be made based on that."

He further said, "Under the current system, amendments are made while retaining the basic structure of the constitution. But if the 'Second Republic' is established, the republic itself will become the foundational basis, upon which the constitution may be rewritten or significantly altered."

The concept of the 'Second Republic' was first brought into discussion on 22 October last year by the Anti-discrimination Student Movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, following the July uprising. On that day, in a gathering at the Central Shaheed Minar demanding the banning of the Chhatra League and the resignation of the president, five demands were made, one of which was the declaration of a 'Proclamation of Republic' to rebuilt the post-2024 Bangladesh in light of the spirit of the July Revolution and run the country as per the expectation of the existing democratic political parties."

After this, the Anti-discrimination Student Movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee representatives discussed these demands with various political parties. However, as the parties did not respond positively, the idea of the 'Second Republic' did not gain much traction. Although some leaders of the July uprising have mentioned it sporadically over time, the demand for the cancellation of the current constitution has been voiced for several months.

On 31 December, last year, the Anti-discrimination Student Movement aimed to publish the July Declaration, with the support of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee. Ahead of this, on 29 December, a press conference was held at their central office in Banglamotor, Dhaka, where the Anti-discrimination Student Movement’s convener, Hasnat Abdullah, stated that through the July Declaration, the “grave” of the 1972 Mujibist constitution would be created.

When asked about the inclusion of the 'Second Republic' in the declaration, Hasnat Abdullah responded, “The Second Republic is a legal matter. We are not focusing on that right now.”

Facing objections from political parties like BNP about publishing the declaration, the government’s spokesperson, Shafiqul Alam, announced on 30 December that the interim government was working on preparing a declaration based on national consensus regarding the July uprising.

After holding a meeting on that night, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement announced a 'March for Unity' event on 31 December 2022, setting a deadline of 15 January for the government to publish the declaration. In the meantime, they conducted campaigns and distributed leaflets between 6 January and 15 January to build public support.

However, by 15 January, the government had not issued the declaration. On 16 January, chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus held a dialogue with political parties and other stakeholders to finalize the declaration at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka. As the next course of action after the dialogue, letters were sent to political parties and stakeholders on the same day to gather their opinions. It was announced that, after reviewing the opinions, a revised and widely acceptable declaration would be prepared and promptly announced in the presence of the public.

In the launch event of the new political party, the National Citizen Party, Nahid Islam clearly stated, "Through the creation of a democratic new constitution, we must end all possibilities of constitutional dictatorship. The creation of the 'Second Republic' and the formulation of a new constitution through a Constituent Assembly election is one of our primary goals."

Regarding the concept of the 'Second Republic,' Professor Muhammad Badrul Hasan, an associate professor of Political Science at Dhaka University, told Prothom Alo that such changes in societies like France occurred within specific contexts. A similar change has occurred in Bangladesh, and the National Citizen Party’s reference to the 'Second Republic' likely reflects their specific perspective or thought process. Time will say what their true aim is and what impact it will have on the country.