The new students-led political party's formal launching may take place between February 26 and February 27. The party's name will reportedly be announced at a ceremony in Dhaka‘s Manik Mia Avenue, Shaheed Minar or at Shahbagh.
Student leaders of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement (ADSM) held an emergency meeting at Bangla Motor in the capital on Wednesday night. They agreed to form a new political party. However, several names have been proposed to decide the name of this new political party, the party name has not been finalised till the time of writing.
A preparatory committee has been formed with members of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the ADSM to form new political party. They held their first meeting at the Jatiya Nagorik Committee office at Rupayan Tower in the capital city.
A preparatory committee has been formed to launch the party. This committee included 70 members of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and 30 student leaders from the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement.
According to reliable sources, framework of the new political party will be formed under a joint initiative of Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement. The current structure of these two platforms (convener, member secretary, chief organizer and spokesperson) will remain as it is now. Name of the Interim Government advisor Nahid Islam has been finalized as the convener. However, there is disagreement over the post of member secretary of the proposed political party.
According to several sources, most leaders of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement prefer Akhtar Hossain for the post of Member Secretary. However, Advisor Mahfuz Alam reportedly wants the convener post of Jatiya Nagorik Committee, Nasiruddin Patwari, to be the Member Secretary of the new party. Names of some leaders from Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement are being discussed for the posts of Chief Organiser and Spokesperson. Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah are in discussion for the posts of chief organizer and spokesperson.
On the other hand, former Shibir activists want Ali Ahsan Jonayed, to become executive member of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and former president of Shibir's DU unit, to be the second-in-command of the new party.
Sources say that to avoid possible divisions and include former Shibir leaders, key student leaders are discussing the posts of a senior joint convener and a senior member secretary.
In this context, Sarwar Tushar, central organizer of Jatiya Nagorik Committee, told the Daily Observer that the formal launch of the new party could take place between February 24 and 27. He added, "We have also talked about how the new political party will be financed. In fact, we will make funding arrangements for the new party similar to countries like Australia, Canada, America and France. Besides, we now take Tk 1,000 per month from each member."
In addition, Pritam Das, the Central Organizer of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, told the Daily Observer, "Our committee leaders collect a minimum of 2 lakh taka from our subscription every month. In addition, more funds will be collected. On one hand, half of the money that our leaders receive from TV talk shows is handed over to us while public subscription is being considered from expatriates and common people. In addition, the offices of Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement cannot be used by the new political party. Therefore, location of the office is being searched for the new political party. However, it has not been decided yet.
He also said that public opinion has been sought from all over the country on what name will be decided through the New Bangladesh Campaign. From that, 15 to 20 names came up and the name of the party will be selected. However, it is not known yet which name will be announced.
The organisers claim that thousands of people, youths and students will gather in Dhaka on the day of launching of the new party. Along with this, three sub-committees on cultural, medical and media issues have also been formed. Another sub-committee was formed to analyze and evaluate public opinion in the recently started campaign for the proposed new political party.
A source present at the meeting said that even if the party is announced at the rally, its charter may not be published. Discussions on forming a new political party led by the students of the July Mass Uprising began in September last year. Interim Government Chief Advisor Dr. Mohammad Yunus told a foreign media that the students and youths will float a new political party. This will be the first student-youth led political party in the country.
A leader of Jatiya Nagorik Committee, choosing to remain anonymous, said that initially the party's launching ceremony was planned for February 25. But since that day is the anniversary of the BDR massacre in Peelkhana, it has been decided not to announce the party on that day. The possible date of the debut ceremony is February 26 or 27. However, sources at Jatiya Nagorik Committee office have provided a different narrative. They said that we do not support any particular day, since it is the launching day of a new political party.
