Dhaka, Bangladesh – In a significant shift in the political landscape, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, announced an electoral alliance on Sunday with a political group formed by student leaders who spearheaded protests last year. The move comes despite internal opposition within the student-led party.
Jamaat-e-Islami appears determined to secure a stake in the government during the upcoming general elections, slated for next year. These elections mark the first since student-led protests led to the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The Islamist movements, which had been significantly suppressed during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, have been actively reorganizing in anticipation of the elections.
The party views the elections, scheduled for February 12th, as their most significant opportunity in decades. Jamaat-e-Islami announced that it had reached an agreement with the student-led National Citizen Party after extensive negotiations. However, some members of the National Citizen Party expressed reservations about the alliance.
Shafiqur Rahman, a leader within Jamaat-e-Islami, also announced a separate agreement with the smaller Liberal Democratic Party. “We were eight parties in the alliance. Now, two new political parties have joined us,” he stated at a press conference. The coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami is primarily composed of smaller Islamist political parties, many of which held only a limited number of seats in previous parliaments.
The Muslim-majority nation of 170 million has experienced unrest since the 2024 protests.
Internal Divisions: Prior to the alliance, at least 30 members of the National Citizen Party wrote to party chairman Naheed Islam, voicing their opposition to the unification of efforts. In a letter issued on Saturday, they argued that their party’s ideology and commitment to democratic values clashed with those of Jamaat-e-Islami. Tasneem Jara, who had intended to run on the party’s ticket, withdrew her candidacy on Saturday, followed by another candidate, Tasnuva Jabien, on Sunday.
The alliance represents a notable realignment of political forces as Bangladesh prepares for crucial elections.
