Mahfuj says no to Jamaat-NCP alliance, declines Dhaka seat

Mahfuj Alam, a former adviser to the interim government, has announced that he will not join the National Citizen Party (NCP) and has declined an offer to contest the upcoming national election from a Dhaka constituency under the Jamaat-NCP alliance.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Mahfuj said preserving his ideological stance was more important to him than securing an election nomination.

“It is not true that I was not offered a proposal from the Jamaat-NCP alliance. However, maintaining my long-standing position is far more important to me than becoming a candidate for a Dhaka seat under this alliance,” he wrote.

Mahfuj said he had provided strategic guidance to the NCP and the Nagorik Committee over the past 18 months, noting that both platforms were led by his “July co-fighters.”

“In the existing reality, my respect, affection and friendship for my July co-fighters will not be erased. But I am not becoming part of the NCP,” he said.

Explaining his decision, Mahfuj referred to what he described as a failed attempt to establish the NCP as a “Big July Umbrella,” and questioned whether the platforms had genuinely embraced principles such as a new political and economic settlement, cultural resistance to fascism and the creation of a society based on empathy.

Describing the current political situation as a “cold war,” he said remaining neutral was the most prudent course of action at this stage.

Mahfuj also expressed optimism about the emergence of an “alternative and centrist youth force” in the country and said he would continue his activism through political, cultural and intellectual engagement.

“If you care to join me, you are most welcome,” he wrote, while reiterating his demand for justice for Sharif Osman Hadi.