The political crisis in Bangladesh has reached its flashpoint in the last 48 hours with two opposing groups getting ready for a major confrontation on the issue of holding elections in the country. One side is led by the newly floated party of the students – National Citizens Party (NCP) backed by the chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the other group is the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supported by the Army Chief Waker Uz Zaman. The Jamaat el Islami is a divided house but most of them have distanced from their one time ally BNP and now supporting Dr. Yunus.
On Thursday, May 22, in the wake of the BNP demand that the chief adviser has to drop a few of his key advisers allied to the NCP, Dr. Yunus felt isolated as he was already under fire for the lapses in administration during a meeting early this week with the Army Chief. Reports said that he decided to submit his resignation as the chief adviser and indicated that to his close NCP advisers. They immediately intervened and persuaded him not to take any precipitate step at this crucial time of the country’s politics.
Nahid Islam, NCP general secretary and a close aid of Dr. Yunus said after talking to him on Thursday evening that the chief adviser was weighing resignation. He said he went to Jamuna, the state guest house as they had been hearing about Yunus’s possible resignation since morning. According to him, the chief adviser expressed concerns about whether he would be able to continue working under the current circumstances under which he was being pressurized from opposing directions.
Dr. Yunus said he felt “held hostage” by the countless demonstrations, “I cannot work like this if you, all the political parties, cannot reach a common ground,” the NCP chief quoted Yunus as saying. The NCP general secretary urged the Chief Adviser to continue in his present position and guide the country to tide over the present political turmoil to which Dr. Yunus reportedly agreed.
Lately, political tensions have been rising, fuelled by protests from various parties and increasingly toxic rhetoric on social media and at political gatherings. The BNP has long been pressing for the election by December. Also, on Thursday, BNP demanded a smaller advisory council, with immediate removal of Mahfuj, Asif and National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman.
According to Dhaka media reports, leaders of the NCP demonstrated on Wednesday, saying they would not take part in any polls under the current Election Commission. Accusing the EC of bias and terming it a “party office” of the BNP, they demanded its reconstitution. They also demanded the resignation of Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, and Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud. They, along with Jamaat-e-Islami, want the election only after reforms are carried out and trial of the banned Awami League leaders.
The tensions between the BNP and the NCP have been escalating since the founding of the NCP by the student leaders in February this year. Dr. Yunus is under the influence of the NCP and he was forced to take the decision on the banning of Awami League and denying the Party participation in the coming elections. This decision was not acceptable to both the BNP and the Army Chief. BNP favours the view that the Awami League in a truncated form can be allowed to take part in elections, since any election with the earlier ruling party being kept out, will create doubts about the legitimacy of the polls to the foreign nations.
BNP now finds that on such a major issue, the party’s views were sidelined. and the NCP’s young leaders precipitated the decision through their pressure on the Chief Adviser.BNP leaders also believe that the NCP will delay the holding of elections as they are demanding that the current election commission can not be trusted by them for holding fair polls. This means that they are not ready for any road map for holding elections even early next year.
Right now, BNP is in a comfortable position with the return of the BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia following medical treatment in London. Though the BNP supremo is not allowed to do running for campaign in favour of BNP, she is meeting leaders and giving instructions. Khaleda Zia has influence among the army officers. That is helping the BNP compared to the contender NCP.. BNP leaders are organizing meetings and making preparations for booth committees at the lower level.
The NCP, on the other hand, is setting up its core committees for the stakeholders like the workers, peasants, women, young educationists, lawyers apart from the core base of students. The NCP thinks BNP as the establishment party like Awami League. The NCP leadership is determined to challenge the BNP on policy issues and corner the party which is hoping to emerge as the winner in the coming elections. The battles lines are already drawn up. Come June and July, the streets of Dhaka and the districts might witness massive demonstrations by both the parties focusing on their respective demands. (IPA Service)
