Bangladesh needs fundamental reforms, says NCP Joint Convener Tajnuva Jabeen ahead of uprising anniversary

Times of Oman

5 days ago

Dhaka: In Bangladesh, the National Citizen Party (NCP), a new political party formed four months ago, mainly led by students, has been vocal in demanding fundamental reforms ahead of the uprising anniversary.
"We want the fundamental reforms. The constitutional institutions should be out of the control of the executives. In the last autocratic regime, what happened was that the Prime Minister was highly powerful. Everything was under her control. The Prime Minister was like a king. It should not be like this. We want democratic transformation. The Executive, Judiciary, and the Parliament - three pillars - should be independent," Tajnuva Jabeen, Joint Convener of NCP, told ANI in an interview.
The NCP was formed on the initiative of the students who led the movement, known as the July uprising or July revolution, to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5 last year. She fled the country, and an interim government was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate.
Bangladesh is on high alert ahead of the anniversary of the uprising. Law enforcement agencies, including the police, are setting up checkpoints on the streets and conducting searches.
Bangladesh's Independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975. Despite the ban on the activities of the Bangladesh Awami League, the party is observing August as a month of mourning.
"We want the PR (proportionate representation) system in the upper house. We want direct vote in the women participation in the reserved seat. There are a lot of proposals. All the political parties agreed. We specially stressed the appointment of the head of the constitutional body. It should be appointed by a specialised body," she added.
The NCP leader said Bangladesh has started its transformation, but the process is slow.
"It's been one year since the July uprising got free from autocratic fascist Sheikh Hasina. Autocracy was established for more than one and a half decades, almost 55 years. So, all the law enforcement, all the bureaucracy, all the administration was under the fascist regime. It was a long history of a fascist regime. We cannot expect an overnight transformation from autocracy to democracy. But now we can talk about everything, we can ask our interim government about what they are doing. We are debating the reform proposals and arguing for democratic transformation. Everybody is participating in the dialogue and seminars. In the last 15 years, we could not even talk. There was no chance to talk against the government. There were laws to stop our voice. There were enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. There was looting of all the banks. There was an empire of autocracy. But in the last one year, it stopped, and we have started transforming to democracy. I think the transformation process is slow. It was not as we expected one year before. But the progress is there," Jabeen said.
She said her party will be different from the existing political parties in Bangladesh, ensuring democratic practices within the party, instead of dynasty politics.
"Our party is only four months old. First of all, I can say that what happened in the last 15 years, the two main political parties were represented by two families. Cabinet, administrations, and family members were everywhere. The country was run by the two political families. After 50 years, all the student leaders of the July uprising, civil society members, and various professionals came together and formed a new political party with a variety of people from different backgrounds. So, it is completely different from the existing old political parties. The women's participation in the party is very high in comparison to the old political parties. Our party is only four months old. In comparison to big established political parties, there is a bunch of talented female members in our party," she said.
"The chief of our party will be elected only for two terms, with three years in each term. He or she must be elected from the direct vote of the grassroots level to the central level. Internal democracy will be maintained. For transparency, we can ask our leader why this is happening. So, internal democracy is strictly maintained," she added.
Jabeen said NCP funding would be transparent: "Our party established a financial website with funding and expenditure details. We will publish the expenditure of the party on the financial website so everybody can see how we run the party. Internal democracy within our party is well maintained."
Replying to a question about the mob culture, the NCP leader said, "It is a complete failure of the government. In the last one year, one single failure of the government is the failure to maintain the law and order situation. During the July uprising, police and other law-enforcing agencies participated in the mass killing. So, it should be the priority of this interim government to re-establish the forces like police, RAB, DB and all the forces related to security. But the government could not do this. So, it is the unfortunate failure of this interim government. So, this mob culture or whatever you say - the false cases accusing people - these are not the right things."
NCP is hopeful about holding the national election by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, early next year.
"We are hopeful. The probable date for the election is either in February or April. The press secretary to the interim government's Chief Adviser said the election would not be postponed even by one day. In the national consensus council, all the political parties discussed all the reform proposals. They negotiated and came to a consensus. We are hopeful to get a July Charter, and after that, we are expected to get a date for the national election," Jabeen said.
The NCP leader expressed serious concerns over the law and order situation in Bangladesh, including the safety and security of minority communities.
"We are not only concerned about the safety and security of the minority community; we are concerned about the safety and security of all the citizens. Unfortunately, after the July uprising, in the last one year, there were many false propaganda claims that there was the highest number of attacks on minorities; but all were not true. Whenever there is an attack on minorities, all the political parties, the government, and all the citizens of Bangladesh were very concerned. They talked about this and the government also took necessary steps. Our party is highly vocal regarding the security and rights of minorities."
NCP wants good relations with all neighbours, including India, with mutual respect.
"We always look for not only India but we want friendship with all the neighbouring countries. We are dependent on each other. We share the borders. We cannot ignore geographical arrangements between our neighbouring countries. But we expect the relationship will be built on the basis of mutual respect. We are very concerned about the border killings. We are concerned about the illegal push-in. We expect India will recognise these issues. After the uprising, India closed the visa for the general public. There was no specific reason behind this. We expect we will help each other. No country should dominate another."
The NCP leader is optimistic about the change in political culture in Bangladesh.
"We are talking about a new political arrangement. We urge the general people to keep faith in us. It will take time. I know there are some incidents that hurt people. But this is not the end. It was a rotten political system. In the last 15 years, it has been polluted even more. We need time to clarify ourselves. We will clarify our manifesto. We will come up with hope and expectations."
"We have to get our party registration first. We just finished our July march and are looking for the July announcement and July Charter. We will also look at how the July Charter will be implemented. We want a referendum to implement the July Charter. We want the July Charter to be signed by all the political parties. It should be implemented before the election. On the basis of the July Charter, we want a legal framework. After that, we hope for an election. Our priority is the July Charter and July announcement, then our party registration, then we will go for the election, whether with an alliance or solo."