NCP in Turmoil Over Accord with Jamaat, Leadership Trying to Bring Resigned Leaders Back

PNN News Desk, Dhaka

Internal unrest has emerged within the National Citizens Party (NCP) over its decision to join the electoral agreement with Jamaat-e-Islami and 11 other parties. In protest, at least 16 leaders have announced their resignation within 11 days, but the party has not formally accepted their resignation. Instead, the top leadership is trying to contact and convince the resigned leaders to return.

On 28 December, NCP announced joining the electoral alliance led by Jamaat. The previous day, 30 leaders submitted a memorandum to party convener Nahid Islam requesting not to join Jamaat. On that same day, NCP senior joint member secretary and political council member Tasnim Zara resigned to run as an independent candidate.

Among the resigned leaders, only Tasnim Zara remains active in the elections, but her nomination from Dhaka-9 was rejected, against which she has appealed. Her husband and former NCP joint convener Khaled Saifullah are also active in the election.

Meanwhile, on 25 December, a central joint member and Chattogram chief coordinator Mir Arshadul Haq resigned from NCP in support of Tarique Rahman. He was a key leader of the Jamaat-opposing faction. Several other leaders also resigned, including Khaled Saifullah, Tajnuba Jabin, Media Cell chief Mushfiq Us Salehin, ICT Cell head Farhad Alam Bhuiya, joint secretaries Arif Sohel and Khan Muhammad Mursaleen, and organizers from northern and southern regions, among others.

NCP senior joint convener Ariful Islam Adib said, “We are communicating with the resigned leaders, and we hope many will return.”

Sources say the resignations are seen as immediate reactions. The political rationale behind the alliance with Jamaat has not been clearly explained to some party members, causing the unrest. Therefore, instead of accepting resignations, the leadership has opted for dialogue to bring leaders back.

However, the situation worsened last Friday when a planned meeting with the resigned leaders was canceled, causing confusion and mistrust. Some party factions allegedly hindered the return of the Jamaat-opposing leaders. Additionally, some female NCP leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the alliance, with two stepping down from elections despite receiving party nominations.

Overall, political pressure and division caused by the alliance with Jamaat pose a serious test for the top leadership of NCP, say political analysts.