Where is BNP's promised "national government," ask allies

BNP had promised to form a “national government” with the parties that participated in the joint movement if it won the election. However, although it formed a government after the 12 February parliamentary election, that promise has been reflected only to a very limited extent. Only three leaders from three allied parties have been given positions in the government. This has created dissatisfaction among some of the allies. They say this is essentially a BNP government under Tarique Rahman’s leadership.

Back then, the government had been led by the Awami League, while BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman was in London. Speaking at an Independence Day event in London on 8 March 2022, he first announced that the parties involved in the anti-government movement would campaign together and contest the election together. He said that, whether victorious or defeated, all participating parties would be included in a national government formed by BNP. After that, BNP leaders frequently spoke about a national government right up until the 13th national parliamentary election.

At a discussion with journalists in Sylhet just before the election on 4 January, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "BNP believes in the will of the people. If we win the election, we will not form a government on our own. Rather, we will form a national government together with those who have carried out a joint movement alongside us on the streets for a long period of time. However, this will not be an all-party government."

Out of the 300 seats in the National Parliament, the BNP left 15 seats for leaders of parties allied with its joint political movement. Of these, eight seats were allocated to five allied parties that contested the election under their own party symbols.

Among these five parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh (date palm symbol) was given four seats, while Ganosamhati Andolan (hut symbol), Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party (spade symbol), Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP (bullock cart symbol), and Gono Odhikar Parishad (truck symbol) were each given one seat.

Only three of those candidates won. They were Zonayed Saki of Ganosamhati Andolan, Andaleeve Rahman Partho of the BJP, and Nurul Haque Nur of Gono Odhikar Parishad.

In addition, seven leaders, including the heads of five allied parties, either dissolved their own parties or joined BNP and contested the election under the BNP’s sheaf-of-paddy symbol. They were: Shahadat Hossain Selim, chairman of Bangladesh LDP; Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the National Democratic Movement; Fariduzzaman Farhad, chairman of the National People''s Party; Syed Ehsanul Huda, chairman of the Bangladesh Jatiya Dal; Redwan Ahmed, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party; Rashed Khan, general secretary of Gono Odhikar Parishad; and Mufti Rashid Bin Wakkas, senior joint secretary general of a faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
Of these seven, only Shahadat Hossain Selim and Bobby Hajjaj were elected.

The election results showed that the BNP did not achieve the outcome it had hoped for in the seats allocated to its allies. Of the 15 seats left to allied parties, only five were won. Among those five victorious candidates, three were given positions in the government. Zonayed Saki was appointed State Minister for Planning. Nurul Haque Nur was appointed to the Ministry of Expatriates'' Welfare and Overseas Employment.  Bobby Hajjaj was appointed State Minister for Primary and Mass Education. Left out of the government were Shahadat Hossain Selim and Andaleeve Rahman Partho.

People familiar with the matter say that both of the leaders who were left out had been involved in political movements alongside the BNP for many years. Among them, Shahadat Hossain Selim played an active role on behalf of BNP not only during the recent joint movement but also in reform discussions with political parties during the tenure of the interim government.

The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, began its term on 17 February. By 5 June, the government had completed 109 days in office. Several leaders of parties that had participated in the joint movement were asked about the BNP’s pre-election promise to form a “national government.”

One of BNP’s key allies in the joint movement was the Gonotantra Mancha and one of this alliance’s senior leaders is Mahmudur Rahman Manna, whose party is Nagorik Oikya.

BNP did not nominate him as a candidate. This led to some bitterness in the run-up to the election. However, neither side pursued the matter further afterward. It is said that Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s relationship with BNP has largely remained in that same state ever since.
Referring to the BNP’s promise during the movement to form a “national government,” Mahmudur Rahman Manna spoke with a touch of sarcasm in an interview with Prothom Alo. He said, “There’s a saying that Coca-Cola fizzes before the election, not after.”

Pointing out that BNP had moved away from the idea of a national government after the election, Manna said, “BNP did not do what it had promised. You could say that two people have been made ministers. But even BNP is not claiming that this is a coalition government. I would say that what has been formed is a BNP government. Appointing one or two people from other parties as state ministers has become a common practice in our country.”

Another senior leader of the Gonotantra Mancha, Saiful Haque, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party, received BNP support in the Dhaka-12 constituency during the election. He contested under his party’s “spade” symbol but was defeated by a large margin by the candidate from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Since then, he has maintained a relatively low profile.

Speaking to Prothom Alo about BNP’s promise to form a national government, Saiful Haque said, “It was BNP leaders themselves who had been talking about a national government since 2022. None of the allied parties made that claim. It was BNP that pledged in its election manifesto to build a ‘rainbow nation.’ How can there be a rainbow nation without a rainbow government? Now there is no discussion at all about a national government. Some people may point out that two allied parties are represented in the government. But is there any visible manifestation of that?”

Saiful Haque argues that BNP’s pre-election vision of a broad, inclusive “rainbow nation” would logically require a similarly inclusive or coalition-style government. In his view, the presence of only a few individuals from allied parties in the government does not amount to the kind of “national government” that had been promised.

Nurul Haque Nur, president of Gono Odhikar Parishad, won the election under his own party’s symbol. However, the party’s general secretary, Muhammad Rashed Khan, joined BNP and contested the election in Jhenaidah-4 under the BNP’s “sheaf of paddy” symbol.

Rashed Khan received 56,224 votes and finished third in his constituency. There, Abu Talib of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami won with 159,099 votes, securing victory by a margin of 102,875 votes. BNP rebel candidate Saiful Islam Firoz finished second with 77,104 votes. Rashed Khan told Prothom Alo that he met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on 3 June, and they had an extensive discussion on various issues. He said, “I remain confident that those of us who joined BNP will be utilised appropriately by the Prime Minister.”

Rashed Khan says he has not yet given up hope for the formation of a national government. He told Prothom Alo, “I have come away with the impression that the Prime Minister will gradually implement BNP’s commitments, including the formation of a national government and the 31-point program of state-structure reforms.”

In the last national election, BNP allocated four seats to the religion-based political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh. Among all of the BNP’s allied parties, it received the largest number of seats. However, none of the party’s candidates, including its president and secretary general, won their races. BNP did not field its own candidates in those constituencies. The election results showed that of these four seats, one was won by Khelafat Majlis, one by a BNP rebel candidate, one by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and one by the National Citizen Party (NCP).

The president of Jamiat, Ubaidullah Faruq, lost in the Sylhet-5 constituency to Abul Hasan of Khelafat Majlis. Ubaidullah Faruq received 69,774 votes, while the winning candidate, Abul Hasan, received 79,355 votes. A BNP rebel candidate was also in the race in that constituency.

The election results triggered a strong reaction among leaders of Jamiat. This was reflected in a speech by the party’s president, Ubaidullah Faruq, at a party event on 4 June in Kanaighat, Sylhet. At one point in his long speech, he said, “The way BNP is treating me, itself will have to suffer the consequences.”

Ubaidullah Faruq claimed that because of Jamiat’s role, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami had been “weakened” or prevented from coming to power. Through this role, he said, they had helped save the country, protected Qawmi madrasas, and created an environment for free movement and activity. Parts of his statement have already circulated on Facebook, drawing mixed reactions in support and opposition.

Overall, there is a clear gap between the pre-election promise of forming a “national government” and the post-election reality. This is now raising new questions about the participation of allied parties, the future of coalition politics, and BNP’s political strategy.

A large section of allied party leaders believes that winning more than two-thirds of the seats has given BNP excessive confidence. As a result, there is little communication or relationship with political allies from difficult times, which they consider potentially dangerous.

Despite the disappointment among allies, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and political affairs adviser to the Prime Minister, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, has given hope regarding the promise of a national government. While in China for medical treatment, he told Prothom Alo over the phone on Monday, “Certainly BNP will fulfill its election pledge regarding the national government. There are signs of that, because the Prime Minister has already started implementing various election promises. This, too, will surely be done.”