Jamaat-e-Islami and the Student-Led NCP Form an Alliance Before Bangladesh Elections

On Sunday, the biggest Islamist party in Bangladesh announced a seat-sharing deal with a group of students who led the rebellion last year; some of the group’s members are against the collaboration. After next year’s general election—the first since the student-led uprising overthrew Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024—Jamaat-e-Islami seems committed to securing a position in the government.

Since Hasina’s overthrow, Islamist movements that were suppressed during her 15-year dictatorial tenure have reorganized, and the Jamaat views the February 12 poll as its greatest chance in decades.

After protracted negotiations during which some NCP members had cautioned against the move, the Jamaat announced on Sunday that it had achieved a deal with the student-led National Citizen Party. Shafiqur Rahman, the leader of Jamaat, announced a different deal with the tiny Liberal Democratic Party.Fringe Islamist political parties, the majority of which had only a few seats in prior parliaments, dominate the Jamaat-led alliance.

Since the 2024 revolt, the 170 million-person country, which is predominately Muslim, has been in instability. The return of Islamist groups has alarmed religious minorities, including as Sufi Muslims and Hindus, who make up fewer than 10% of the population.

Hardline Islamist organizations have demanded that cultural events that they view as “anti-Islamic” be prohibited, such as kite-flying celebrations, women’s football games, and music and theater festivals. At least thirty NCP members opposed the intention to work together in a letter to party leader Nahid Islam prior to the alliance with the Jamaat.

They said in a letter on Saturday that the Jamaat’s beliefs and the NCP’s commitment to democracy were at odds. Tasnim Jara, who intended to run on the NCP ticket, resigned on Saturday, while Tasnuva Jabin, another prospective candidate, did the same on Sunday.

In a social media post on Sunday, prominent party member Samantha Sharmin cautioned that the party would have to pay a “high price” for its partnership with Islamists. Promising “democratic, egalitarian, and people-oriented” centrist politics, the NCP was founded in March.

Regarding the affiliation with the Jamaat, the party has not released a statement. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is favored to win the polls as Hasina’s Awami League is prohibited from participating. The return of Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s acting chairman, to Bangladesh on Thursday from a 17-year exile in Britain has energized the party.