The Awami League yesterday decided not to field party candidates in any local government polls as a measure to stop infighting between AL leaders.

The infighting worsened after the party decided to nominate candidates in the recently held national election and allowed their party colleagues to compete against them.

The new decision will be effective in the polls to Cumilla and Mymensingh city corporations, which are slated for March 9, said sources.

No candidates will get the party symbol "boat". 

The decision was made at an emergency meeting of AL Central Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, at the Gono Bhaban. AL President Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting.

The ruling party convened the meeting to discuss the way out of the intra-party feuds.

As the BNP and some other parties boycotted the polls, the party adopted a strategy to make the election appear participatory and to increase turnout. This ultimately led to violence between AL leaders in many places.

According to insiders, at the beginning of the meeting, Hasina asked party leaders to come up their recommendations on how to minimise the infighting and party's role in upcoming elections to upazila parishads, which will be held in phases. The polls are likely to begin in March.

AL Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim started first with his proposal for not providing party electoral symbol in local government elections.

He also recommended holding extended meetings in the districts where AL's internal feuds are intense and said the party should take all-out measures so that the infighting does not intensify further, said sources.

Almost all other party leaders echoed Nasim.

Some of them also suggested that the government take stern action against the arsonists to stop the recurrence of arson attacks, said sources.

At the one stage of the meeting, Hasina, also the prime minister, brought up the US presidential election and said the presidential election between George W Bush and Al Gore was questionable, said meeting insiders.

She said Donald Trump also did not recognise Joe Biden's victory.

Those who are preaching good elections to Bangladesh are mum on the issues of the US presidential election, Hasina said, according to meeting sources.

At the end of the meeting, AL chief Hasina decided to take "boat" out of the local government polls.

The AL started fielding candidates for the local body polls with its electoral symbol "boat" from 2015 after five laws related to union parishads, upazila parishads, municipalities and city corporations were amended, allowing party-backed candidates in local government bodies.

The meeting also assigned eight divisional committees to meet the leaders of the districts where there are intra-party feuds. It also decided to hold extended meetings there to resolve the problem.

While briefing reporters about the outcome of the meeting, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the party would not allocate "boat" to any candidates in upazila parishad elections.

He, however, said the final decision would be made at a joint meeting of party's local government and parliamentary nomination boards.

Condition of the sixth grader gangraped in Bhola on August 11 has slightly improved as the bleeding stopped yesterday.

But she is still in pain and is given pain killers, said Bilkis Begum, coordina-tor of One Stop Crisis Centre at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Meanwhile, her brother told The Daily Star yesterday that his family was feeling insecure and threatened because the brother of an accused rapist told people that he would take revenge for his brother’s death in a “shootout”.

“A brother of [rape accused] Manjur told people that his brother was killed because of us. So, they will take revenge one day. We are feeling in-secure,” he said.

He added that rape accused Al Amin and Manjur Alam, who were killed in a “shootout” with officers on Wednesday, had links with many powerful people in the area.

Police also said the two had been accused earlier of drug dealing.

The 12-year-old girl was brought to the DMCH early Thursday after doc-tors at multiple hospitals in Bhola and Barishal failed to stop the bleeding from her private parts. Doctors said she needed 22 stitches for wounds to her private parts and there were numerous cuts in her toes and back.

The girl of Bhola town was raped at her neighbour and aunt’s house when she went there to have mehendi on her arms on the eve of Eid. As she was waiting at the veranda of the house for her aunt, Al Amin, 27, a ten-ant of the building, gagged her with a strip of cloth and forced her into his room, police said.

Amin and his associate Manjur Alam, 25, then tied her up and raped her, they added.

Another young man named Jamal Akand has been accused of assisting the duo in the crime, said Sagir Mia, officer-in-charge of Bhola Sadar Police Station.

Her father filed a case accusing the trio. Jamal was sent to jail.

Non-profit Coast Trust has been assisting the girl’s family in bearing the treatment and legal costs.

The interim government will bar the Awami League and the like-minded  parties from participating in political activities, said the chief adviser's office yesterday.

"Those who had taken part in the last three elections and come to parliament illegally deceived the people, and the interim government will of course put obstacles to their political participation," said Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the chief adviser.

"You will see how these barriers will come into effect. It has a legal aspect and it has an administrative aspect -- you will see it soon. These things will become clearer when the election process starts."

Mahfuj was briefing journalists after talks with 10 political parties.

On a query about the possibility of banning the AL and its allies, he said  this will be decided upon discussions with different political parties.

"The government will not take the decision unilaterally."

At the dialogue with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, some parties yesterday demanded banning the AL and its allies or at least keeping them from taking part in the next national election.

Jatiya Party and other AL allies have not been invited to the talks.

Mahfuj said the government is not inviting the AL's allies as those parties provided "silent support and participated in the illegal elections".

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"The interim government has made it clear that those parties were allies of fascism and consented to genocide -- they took a stance directly against the people. Similar views were expressed by the political parties."

About constituting the Election Commission, he said the government will soon form a search committee to appoint a new chief election commissioner and other election commissioners.

Discussions on election-related issues including voter list preparation will go on in parallel with the work of the reform commissions.

During the dialogue with 10 political parties yesterday, the issues of election, reforms, AL's financial crimes and the trial of those who enabled the mass killings in July and August were discussed, said Mahfuj, who was present at the meetings.

At the talks, the chief adviser assured the parties of fair prices of essentials, improvement in law and order and stability in the garment sector.

Also at the briefing, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser, said the government is investigating how the AL leaders and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina managed to flee the country.

There was no government from August 5 to 8, and the police were on strike for about a week. As a result, many AL leaders have managed to flee.

"We tried our best to arrest them. We are still trying to arrest those who are in Bangladesh and involved in the genocide."

Asked about the investigation into those who assisted Hasina to flee, he said the probe is ongoing.

About the exclusion of controversial advisers and expansion of the advisory council, Azad Majumder, deputy press secretary, said: "Such proposals have been received from several political parties. The chief adviser carefully listened to the advice of the political parties. He will inform everyone in this regard following certain procedures."

Meanwhile, during their dialogue with Yunus, political parties also pressed the government to hold the next national election very soon after completing the ongoing reform works.

They demanded the interim government control the price hike of essentials and law and order.

Leaders of Gonoforum, Liberal Democratic Party, Jatiya Mukti Council, Jatiya Gonofront, 12 Party Alliance, Ganatantrik Bam Oikya, Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), Bangladesh Labour Party and Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal held talks with Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna.

Yunus's series of dialogues with political parties started with a nine-member delegation of the Gonoforum led by the party's Emeritus President Dr Kamal Hossain.

"We want the election to be held very soon after the completion of reforms. But we didn't mention any time frame," said Mostafa Mohsin Montu, chairman of the Gonoforum's coordination team, after the meeting.

If the next national election is held before completion of reforms, things will return to square one, he said.

Montu said they also urged the interim government to take steps to control the price hikes.

Oli Ahmed, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, demanded that the interim government ban the AL for fighting against the country's people in July-August.

"They illegally used the police [against the people]. They killed and injured 1,500 people. Awami League will have to be banned as it "fought a war against the country's 18 crore people," Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.

AL also turned Bangladesh into a hotbed of corruption, he added.

Andaleeve Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), said actions should be taken against the AL and its 14 party alliance members. 

"Whether the Awami League will be banned through an executive order or an order from the High Court is a different matter, but the process should begin," he said.

Terming the country's current constitution undemocratic, Jatiya Mukti Council Secretary Faizul Hakim demanded the enactment of a new constitution.

He also said that Hasina should be repatriated from India and put on trial.

"Sitting in India, the Awami League president is hatching conspiracies. This has to be stopped."

He demanded dismantling of market syndicates that are behind the price spirals.

He also called for a ration system in the country, adequate wages in the readymade garment sector and reopening of 25 sugar mills.

The recent statements on Bangabandhu and March 7 by some government high-ups have created controversy and the people did not accept those, said Sharif Nurul Ambia, president of Bangladesh Jasod.

"There is no logic in putting the blame on Bangabandhu for the mistakes of Hasina's former government. So, we think the statements should be corrected," he said.

The advisory council must be reformed before reforms are carried out elsewhere, said Mostafizur Rahman Iran, president of the Labour Party.

The two advisers representing students are doing well, but most of the others have "failed".

"That is why the unsuccessful advisers should be removed from the advisory council."

He also demanded arrests and punishment of the top Jatiya Party leaders for enabling the fascist government.

The AL and its 14 party alliance members and the JP are yet to be invited to the dialogue with Yunus.

On October 5, leaders of the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Left Democratic Alliance and six parties from the Ganatantra Mancha held dialogues with Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna.

The July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh marked a pivotal moment as students and citizens rallied for transformative change, challenging established political hierarchies. Unlike previous movements, this protest operated independently of any political party leadership, underscoring a grassroots demand for reform that had eluded mainstream opposition efforts for over a decade. For the first time, a mass uprising forced the removal of a seemingly entrenched regime through sheer public resolve, demonstrating the often-overlooked power of collective action—an "event" as described by eminent French philosopher Alain Badiou: a disruptive break from the status quo of conventional political order.

On August 8, the formation of an interim government emerged as a critical turning point in Bangladesh's political landscape, briefly uniting opposition forces, including the BNP, around a shared agenda for paradigmatic change. Initially supportive of the student movement, some argue that the BNP later tempered its endorsement, seemingly distancing itself strategically from some of the demands for structural reform of extractive institutions widely seen as enabling the rise of illiberal, authoritarian governance, epitomised by the recently ousted regime. Notably, the BNP is now subtly yet unmistakably shifting away from calls for the immediate resignation of the sitting president—a figure closely tied to the discredited past—and towards advocating for a more cautious, electoral roadmap. This strategic repositioning has allowed the BNP to present itself as a stabilising force focused on continuity and gradual reform through electoral processes, a choice that critics argue reflects a conservative impulse to preserve familiar structures.

According to cultural theorist Frederic Jameson, understanding such political decisions requires analysis through multiple lenses or "horizons." On the "political horizon," Jameson's first level of analysis, the BNP's reluctance to support student-led calls for immediate presidential removal can be viewed as a tactical move to balance reform aspirations with stability. By prioritising an electoral roadmap over sudden upheaval, the BNP is perhaps portraying itself as a seasoned opposition force. This approach positions the party as a measured alternative amid calls for radical change—a strategic choice to avoid being swept up in what it might see as "instant gratification" in favour of long-term goals. However, critics argue that this approach risks the party appearing overly conservative and misaligned with the youth-driven energy fuelling the July uprising.

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The "social horizon," meanwhile, explores deeper class and institutional interests that shape political choices, often unconsciously. Here, the BNP's distance from grassroots reform demands can be seen as aligning with the entrenched two-party system, which has long structured politics in Bangladesh. By prioritising incremental reforms and institutional stability over radical transformation, BNP implicitly supports structures that have historically benefited both itself and the Awami League. This reluctance to disrupt institutional power structures could be understood through Jameson's concept of the "political unconscious," where underlying class interests influence behaviour that may appear pragmatic but, in effect, serves to protect established hierarchies. The BNP's stance could be reflective of this tendency, preserving a status quo that risks sidelining the radical reforms that some segments of the public are increasingly demanding.

In the "historical horizon," Jameson's final layer of interpretation, BNP's response to the uprising can be seen as part of Bangladesh's cyclical political struggles. Rather than embracing a transformative shift, BNP's positioning could suggest a reluctance to break from long-standing political rivalries, framing itself as the ideological heir to the student movement's anti-Awami League sentiment while resisting a deep engagement with systemic overhaul. But this positioning could risk reducing the uprising's transformative vision to another episode in the Awami League-BNP rivalry. In Jameson's view, such cyclical politics underscore a missed opportunity for genuine change, as BNP's actions could hint at continuity within Bangladesh's familiar political pattern to some, rather than a break from it.

French philosopher Alain Badiou's concept of the "moment" underscores the unique potential of the July 2024 uprising to introduce new political realities. For Badiou, such a moment represents a radical rupture from established norms, challenging entrenched power structures and creating the possibility of unforeseen political reforms. The uprising's mass mobilisation of public sentiment without major party backing exemplifies that this kind of "event" informed disruptive rupture, a grassroots force demanding structural change that bypasses established political channels.

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However, Badiou also warns that these transformative moments can be co-opted or neutralised if not sustained by active revolutionary commitment, or what he calls "fidelity" to the event. The BNP's stance, which shifted from initially aligning with the students to later portraying the president as a stabilising figure, could risk dissipating the transformative potential of this "moment." By reverting to conventional political processes, BNP's approach could undermine the movement's radical energy, restoring the status quo ante, rather than actualising the profound systemic reforms demanded by some people.

Ultimately, the BNP's decision to prioritise stability over radical change illustrates a complex dilemma: straddling the aftermath of a revolutionary "event" and realpolitik. While the party's cautious stance may preserve order and avoid immediate risks, it also places the BNP at odds with some segments of society that have become increasingly disillusioned by traditional politics. This hesitance could alienate reform-minded citizens, especially younger voters who may view BNP's position as self-serving or evasive. Rather than merely adopting the movement's ideological legacy, BNP's strategic ambivalence risks positioning it as another entity within the political duopoly that the uprising implicitly critiques.

BNP's strategic choices in the wake of the July uprising reveal a tension between preserving continuity and embracing transformative potential. While Jameson's "Three Horizons" show how the party's stance aligns with established power structures, Badiou's concept of the "moment" underscores the revolutionary potential that the BNP risks missing. By aligning itself too closely with stability, and gradualism, BNP could marginalise itself in the eyes of a public yearning for meaningful change. To truly capture the movement's spirit, the party may need to move beyond mere strategic positioning and fully engage with the grassroots demands that fuelled the July uprising—demands that traditional, incremental politics can no longer afford to overlook. By the same token, this challenge also calls for a delicate balancing act of realpolitik, as the party weighs transformative ambitions against the pressures of political continuity and stability in an unpredictable landscape.

Dr Faridul Alam writes from New York City, US.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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