Student demonstrators who ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina have rejected calls from Bangladesh’s two main political parties for quick elections and are considering creating their own party to sustain their movement, according to interviews with four protest leaders.
Student leaders have discussed forming a political party to end the duopoly, said Mahfuj Alam, who chairs a committee tasked with liaising between the government and social groups such as teachers and activists.
A decision would be made in about a month, the 26-year-old law student told Reuters, adding that protest leaders wanted to consult widely with citizens before deciding on a platform.
Details of the students’ plans for their movement’s political future have not previously been reported. “People are really tired of the two political parties. They have trust in us,” he said, at the gates of Dhaka University’s Arts Faculty.
“We are not thinking about political organisations right now,” he said in the Facebook post, adding that the priority was broad reform of the political system. “Everyone will know what the political structure will be at the appropriate time.”
“The spirit of the movement was to create a new Bangladesh, one where no fascist or autocrat can return,” said Nahid Islam, 26, a key protest organiser who sits in Yunus’ cabinet. “To ensure that, we need structural reforms, which will definitely take some time.”
The government is not considering calls from the Awami League and BNP to hold fresh polls as early as fall, said Islam.
On July 19, authorities detained three of the movement’s most important leaders: Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Mojumder. Expecting to be arrested, the core of about two dozen coordinators had formed a structure in which they were supported by layers of other student-activists, said Islam.
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