Politics of alliance in Bangladesh

Eying the general election, the political parties of Bangladesh are grouping together. AL with the left leaning parties were already in 14 party alliance since long. Ershad’s Jatiya Party is in the process to join with the AL since the last election of 22/1. Many took the alliance as a compromise on the part of AL, basically a secular and traditionally democratic party, with a past autocratic dictator, the fall of which also contributed by AL in 1990.

BNP, on the other hand, packed with Jamaat-&-Islami and other 2 parties to form the 4 party alliance.BNP alliance is also criticized as accommodating to the anti-liberation forces against whom the Sector Commanders Forum is leading a campaign for their immediate trial.But BNP leaders very recently blasted aside the campaign as a political one.

The ordinary citizens are not taking much interest in the formation of alliance as these are alliance of convenience to grab the power rather than alliance of ideologies. These alliances couldn’t even formulate any common election manifesto.So far, AL and JP disclosed their manifesto separately and JI declared it’s manifesto before the BNP distributed it’s own.

The ordinary citizen would rather prefer alliance of the parties after election if at all than before and that would have been good for the democracy and the country.

An ordinary citizen