Second Republic

Bangladeshi students who spearheaded last year’s decisive protests against Sheikh Hasina have formed their own political party ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. The National Citizen Party (NCP) is led by 26-year-old Nahid Islam, a key student activist during the July Revolution. The NCP is Bangladesh’s first student-led political party, which identifies itself as centrist and pluralist.

Bangladesh has undergone significant transformations in the six months following Hasina’s ouster in early August last year. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, was reinstated to lead an interim government appointed to restore democracy, which Hasina had almost done away with during her repressive rule. Yunus appointed three student leaders, including Nahid Islam, as advisers to the interim government.

Initially, members of the Yunus government discussed remaining in power for the next several years to implement their extensive reform agenda. However, under mounting pressure from the public, the idea was abandoned. Subsequently, Muhammad Yunus pledged free and fair elections in the coming months.

Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is in tatters. Its leadership is either imprisoned or exiled. If elections were held today, Khalida Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) would sweep them. However, the emergence of the student-led NCP, which enjoys great popularity among youth, could dramatically reshape the entire electoral calculus.

The student-led NCP seeks to transform Bangladesh’s political scene, which has long been controlled by two women-led family dynasties. Sheikh Hasina’s family traces its lineage back to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh and the Awami League.

The other is former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, whose late military leader husband, Ziaur Rahman, established the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister, was forced to resign from office under immense pressure from the student-led movement. She is now exiled in India. Although her tenure saw significant economic progress for the nation, it was also marred by widespread accusations of corruption, human rights abuses, and authoritarian practices.

The BNP is in a very strong position to lead the next parliamentary elections. The party is led by old and ailing Khaleda Zia. Her son and heir-apparent, Tarique Rahman, is in exile in London.

In addition to the above two, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) and the Communist Party of Bangladesh have continued to play significant political roles within the country’s political landscape.

NCP seeks to secure justice for protestors slain during the July Revolution. The United Nations uncovered evidence of severe human rights violations carried out under Hasina’s directives as she sought to suppress mounting unrest. Around 1,400 people lost their lives.

During NCP’s launch event, its young leaders declared their goal to create a new Bangladesh, which they called the “Second Republic.” They are also seeking to establish a novel political framework besides drafting a revised constitution.

The idea of a ‘Second Republic’ is deeply rooted in the history of France. However, it is not an exclusively French concept. This political idea has also been applied in diverse contexts across different nations. Broadly, it signifies the process of overhauling an existing governance system and establishing a new political structure. A second republic is often achieved through revolution, uprising, and violence.

For instance, France, originally a monarchy, experienced the French Revolution in 1789 resulting in the collapse of the monarchy. During the revolution, France established its First Republic which endured for a few years until the monarchy was restored in 1804. The monarchy persisted until 1848 when the Second Republic was proclaimed. The Second Republic continued for a very short period but it still remains a significant period in French history. After numerous changes in governance, France is currently governed under its Fifth Republic.

In Bangladesh, the idea of a ‘Second Republic’ was initially introduced in October last year by the leaders of the Student Movement in the aftermath of the July uprising. Participants of an October 22nd rally demanded the proclamation of the Republic to reshape post-Hasina Bangladesh in alignment with the spirit of the July Revolution.

In Bangladesh, the idea of a ‘Second Republic’ was initially introduced in October last year by the leaders of the Student Movement in the aftermath of the July uprising.

However, liberal circles are concerned that some factions within the NCP seem to align with hardline religious elements. This has sparked worries about the party’s commitment towards a secular second republic. At the NCP launch event in February, its leader was repeatedly referred to as the “imam of democracy.”

Party leader Nahid Islam dismissed these allegations, labelling them as propaganda to damage NCP’s image. He stated that his party did not intend to form a religious party.

Analysts believe that the new party will confront a range of challenges, including resolving its internal divisions and establishing a distinct political identity. The NCP currently includes students from across the ideological spectrum, from leftists to conservatives. This could lead to internal ideological friction within its cadres and prevent the party from becoming a pan-Bangladesh national cohesive force.

The idea of a Second Republic has historically emerged in societies like France under specific circumstances. In Bangladesh, a comparable shift is taking place, and the National Citizen Party’s invocation of the ‘Second Republic’ likely mirrors their unique perspective or vision. Only time will reveal their true intentions and their potential impact on the nation.