Bangladesh News

BNP-led four-party components’ frantic efforts to figure out the reasons for their recent election debacle might end up splitting the alliance, as the main components BNP and Jamaat are blaming each other for the shocking defeat.

Most of BNP’s rank and file believes the issue of Jamaat being popularly known as a party of war criminals pushed the new generation of fresh voters towards rival Awami League (AL)-led camp while Jamaat leaders and activists think the record of unbridled corruption by immediate past BNP ministers and lawmakers brought down the stigma of wholesale rejection on their alliance.

BNP insiders said people believe the immediate past four-party alliance government could not take strong steps against militancy on time due to Jamaat’s resistance, although the latter has always been denying that it has anything to do with militants.

A group of senior BNP leaders, who just got defeated by huge margins in the recent poll, however is trying hard to keep the alliance together.

“We lost about 32 percent votes which were cast by young generation first time voters, as the movement against war criminals turned into a serious issue in the pre-election period,” a former BNP lawmaker told The Daily Star yesterday.

But a Jamaat leader, who was also defeated in the poll, said, “It was a rigged election, although corruption was the main factor in this poll.”

Asked, which was more of a vital issue in the just concluded election, Jamaat-BNP alliance or corruption, Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid told the Daily Star last night, “I want to say, people are not taking into cognisance the propaganda that was conducted against Jamaat before the election. We got 14 percent more votes than what we had got in 2001.”

Other top leaders of Jamaat also threw away outright the possibility of a split in four-party alliance.

“Four-party alliance will sit soon to evaluate the poll result after collecting necessary documents and pertinent information,” Mojahid said.

Talking to The Daily Star, Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, an adviser to the BNP chairperson emphasised on restoration of BNP’s image, saying, “As a nationalist party BNP cannot compromise with extremism and communalism.”

“Even no idealistic compromise with anti-liberation forces can be accepted, as the party’s founder, Ziaur Rahman, declared the country’s independence on behalf of Bangabandhu,” he said adding that it was not BNP but Jatiya Party, a component of AL-led grand alliance, which declared Islam as the state religion.

The BNP insiders said some of their party nominees who were defeated in the poll, already met Khaleda Zia and lodged complaints against Jamaat, as they did not get Jamaat support during the election.

Some of them told the chairperson that BNP will keep losing more in the future, if it keeps on sticking with Jamaat, which is known as a party of war criminals.

“This time young voters were emotional about the matter, and in the next election more fresh voters will be registered, so as a democratic force we should not ignore their sentiment,” a former BNP lawmaker said adding that Jamaat’s support is not necessary for BNP to win an election.

He also said, “If necessary we can follow the strategy we had in 1991 election, but we should not continue the alliance with anti-liberation forces in the present format.”

In 1991 election BNP had no formal alliance with Jamaat, and it won the majority in the parliament, albeit not enough to form a government without the support of Jamaat.

Many BNP candidates who were defeated in the latest poll suggested their party high ups that they take steps for restoring the party’s image, as the people, especially the young generation, do not like religion based politics.

“Why we lost the young generation’s support, although they had been the ones to vote BNP to power in 1991, must be discussed in party forums,” a former BNP lawmaker who was also the party’s student wing leader told The Daily Star last night.