Bangladesh’s students who led a mass uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have formed a new political party, the National Citizen Party (NCP), with the aim of creating a new political space in the country. The party was launched at a rally in front of Parliament in Dhaka, where critics of Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus called it a “King’s Party” supported by him.
The NCP is led by 26-year-old Nahid Islam, a prominent student leader who played a key role in the mass uprising. The party has announced a 151-member committee and aims to bring reforms to the country’s political culture of nepotism and corruption. Its mission is to dismantle “constitutional autocracy” and adopt a new democratic constitution.
The NCP has been invited to participate in the next election, which is expected to be held either in December or by June 2026. The party will try to form alliances with other parties except for Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is seeking to form the next government. The student wing of Hasina’s Awami League party has already been banned by the Yunus-led government.
The new party’s formation has sparked debate about its intentions and the role of Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus in its creation. Analysts say that the NCP might be able to break Bangladesh’s decades-long traditional political power structure, but its future remains uncertain.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-students-political-party-hasina-yunus-7565d2860be1ed4c03bfd9a5beb4f539