NCP to contest polls with Jamaat-led alliance: Nahid

National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam on Sunday announced that his party will contest the upcoming national elections as part of an electoral alliance with eight like-minded parties led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, citing the need for greater unity to ensure fair polls and safeguard post-uprising aspirations.

“We have decided to participate in the elections with eight like-minded parties, including Jamaat, for fair elections and greater unity,” Nahid said, adding that the final list of candidates will be announced on Monday.

He made the announcement at an emergency press conference held at the party’s temporary office in Bangla Motor in the capital on Sunday night, December 28, which was attended by NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain and other central leaders.

Describing the grouping as a 10-party electoral compromise alliance, Nahid said the arrangement was necessary both to overcome electoral hurdles and to advance a shared agenda focused on reform, justice and resistance to corruption and hegemonic forces. He said the alliance would adopt a minimum common programme centred on reform, justice and anti-corruption, aimed at addressing the crises currently facing Bangladesh.

“We have reached a point of greater unity so that the aspirations born out of the mass uprising are not disrupted in any way,” he said, adding that the announcement was being made officially on behalf of the party.

Nahid said only candidates endorsed under the compromise would submit nomination papers and that the alliance would contest the elections jointly across the country. He added that NCP leaders and affiliated organisations would campaign not only for their own candidates but also for alliance partners in constituencies where the NCP is not fielding nominees.

“The National Citizens Party and its organisations will campaign for the referendum as well. Where we do not have candidates, there will be candidates from other parties in the alliance, and we will work in support of them,” he said.

Warning of attempts to undermine the political transition following the July mass uprising, Nahid alleged that “hegemonic forces” were plotting to derail the process. Referring to the killing of Sharif Usman Hadi, he said those who participated in the uprising – particularly youths, citizens, families of martyrs and the wounded – were being systematically targeted.

“Today Osman Hadi was shot. Tomorrow it could be you, and the day after, it could be me,” he said. “The primary targets are those who took part in the July uprising.”

He said the changing political context, particularly following Hadi’s killing, had convinced the NCP that broader unity was now essential to ensure a smooth election and to prevent any force from obstructing progress after the mass uprising. “With that realisation, we held discussions with Jamaat-e-Islami and the eight like-minded parties. The NCP has agreed to the electoral understanding they proposed, and we will now participate in the elections together,” he said.

Nahid said the NCP had initially planned to contest the elections independently by fielding candidates in all 300 constituencies and had begun preparations accordingly, inviting nominations nationwide. He said the party later entered into political understandings with two other parties on reform issues, forming a reform-oriented electoral alliance.

However, he said recent developments had made it clear that broader coordination was necessary. “Those we defeated through the mass uprising are still active and plotting to manipulate the elections,” he said, adding that the alliance was formed to counter such attempts and to protect the gains achieved through the uprising.