At least six female leaders of National Citizen Party (NCP) have publicly expressed angry reactions over the party’s electoral understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami.
Among them, two have resigned from the party. One has submitted nomination papers to contest the election as an independent candidate. Others, despite earlier preparations to contest the election, have stepped back from that position.
On 10 December, NCP published a list of 125 candidates. Two female leaders included in that list have announced their withdrawal from the election. One leader has declared herself inactive in the party, while another has sharply criticised the party’s decision.
Last Sunday, both sides formally announced that NCP had joined an electoral understanding with Jamaat and like-minded parties. While discussions on this were ongoing, on Saturday NCP senior joint member secretary Tasnim Zara resigned from the party and announced her decision to contest as an independent candidate from the Dhaka-9 constituency. Earlier, she had been declared the party’s candidate for that seat.
According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), an independent candidate must submit with the nomination papers a list of signatures showing the support of 1 per cent of the voters of the concerned constituency. Based on the total number of voters in Dhaka-9, Tasnim Zara required signatures from 4,693 voters. She set up booths in three areas of the constituency on Sunday and Monday to collect the signatures and submitted her nomination papers on the final day yesterday.
In addition, unable to accept the understanding with Jamaat, NCP joint convener Tajnuva Jabeen resigned from the party on Sunday. She was the NCP’s declared candidate for the Dhaka-17 constituency. After resigning, she wrote on Facebook that she would not be contesting the election.
2 candidates withdraw
NCP joint convener Monira Sharmin was the party’s nominated candidate for the Naogaon-5 constituency. After the issue of seat-sharing between the NCP and Jamaat and like-minded parties became public, she withdrew from the election on Sunday. However, she remains in the party.
It is not possible to understand how much ideological difference there is between the NCP and Jamaat. This is because the NCP is a new party. They say they are centrist. But as ordinary citizens, as voters, we do not clearly know what their ideological position is. However, this understanding did not surprise me much.Professor Samina Lutfah of the Department of Sociology at Dhaka University
On Sunday, Monira Sharmin wrote on Facebook, “Before receiving the nomination, I did not know that this party would enter into a seat-sharing arrangement at 30 constitiencies with Jamaat. I knew that the decision was to contest alone by fielding candidates in all 300 seats. Since the party’s position has now changed, I am withdrawing myself from the election.”
In the hill district of Khagrachhari, NCP’s nominated candidate was the party’s southern region organiser, Monjila Jhuma. Nomination papers had also been collected on her behalf. However, on Sunday night, she announced that she would not contest the election.
1 inactive, another critical
NCP joint member secretary Nusrat Tabassum had been preparing to contest from the Kushtia-1 constituency. Since the July mass uprising, she had been seen campaigning and engaging in public outreach in the constituency at various times. However, her constituency was not included in the NCP’s initial list of 125 candidates.
On Sunday night, she wrote on Facebook, “I believe that through the declaration of the 10-party alliance, including Jamaat-e-Islami, especially those who had taken nominations have been deceived. In light of these events, I am initially declaring myself inactive from all party activities during the election period and announcing that I will take any final decision after reassessing the situation.”
When contacted, Nusrat Tabassum told Prothom Alo yesterday, “I am not contesting the election. I have declared myself inactive from all party activities.”
NCP senior joint convener Samantha Sharmin also criticised the decision to reach an understanding with Jamaat but did not resign from the party. However, it is known that she has stepped away from one of the party’s forums.
This top NCP leader wrote on Facebook yesterday evening that it is unrealistic to expect the final form of organisational centrism to be determined within just 10 months of the party’s journey. As a result, ‘inner party struggle’ has become an inevitable reality.
Stating that she does not consider the decision to form an alliance with Jamaat to be correct, Samantha Sharmin wrote, “At the same time, I am also not resigning from the party at this moment. Participating in the election as part of the NCP–Jamaat alliance or accepting any kind of organisational or financial assistance from Jamaat is not morally acceptable to me. For that reason, I am not participating in this election.”
Regarding this, professor Samina Lutfah of the Department of Sociology at Dhaka University told Prothom Alo, “It is not possible to understand how much ideological difference there is between the NCP and Jamaat. This is because the NCP is a new party. They say they are centrist. But as ordinary citizens, as voters, we do not clearly know what their ideological position is. However, this understanding did not surprise me much.”
Regarding the reactions of female leaders to the NCP’s electoral understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami, Samina Lutfah said that many of these women are quite popular. They have been with the NCP for a long time and were also involved in the uprising.
“It is disheartening to see the strength of the uprising being divided in this way,” she lamented.