The July Sanad: The Road Map
The 2025 July National Charter, the July Sanad has since signed and adopted by most leading political parties except Awami League, and the newly formed student-led National Citizen Party (NCP).
As the Interim Government (IG) has banned the activities of the Awami League, it did not invite the party to sign the Charter.
The student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) refused to sign the Charter in its current form because the Sanad lacked “provisions of guarantee of full implementation of the Charter.”
Notwithstanding, by signing it, the leading political parties have given the Sanad a measure of legitimacy and commitment to “…establishing a society and a democratic state system that upholds rule of law and human rights and moral values and is free from corruption and exploitation…” except that one of Bangladesh’s largest parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has signed the Sanad with a Note of Dissent on draft reform proposals of the Reform Commission.
Expectations and the missing link
So far so good. However, Reform Commission’s expectations that all the political parties would sign on reforms that are integral to ensuring their own quality, character, and integrity that are key to the implementation and realization of the Sanad goals does not seem to have been fully fulfilled and this is deeply worrying.
After all, just as good seeds thrown on inferior quality soil would not yield good crop, political parties with weak and/or fractured organizational capacity and questionable moral bearing are unlikely to deliver the avowed goals of the Sanad – a democratic corruption-free Bangladesh.
In other words, implementation of the Sanad warrants reform/adjustments of political parties to ensure that practices, norms, values, and operating arrangements of these parties, conform to those of the Sanad goals and aspirations. So, the question is – do the current dominant political parties reveal characteristics, – moral and operational – that are in conformity of those of the Sanad? Let us explore.
The dominant parties: a tattered tapestry
There are fifty-seven registered political parties in Bangladesh and among these only few are dominant.
Currently, the dominant political parties/ groups are: the Awami League (currently, its activities have been banned, but not the party itself), Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI), the ‘Baam’ – the Left – group) and the National Citizen Party (NCP), the newly formed student-led party which at this stage is more of a political platform than a party, evolving.
The Awami League, a decomposed Venus?
The Bangladesh Awami League, once a party of hope, freedom and a crusader of democracy (1956-1974) has over the years transformed itself, in phases, into a party of repression, violence and dictatorship (1974-1975); in hibernation (1976-1980); re-appearance/re-connected with the existing political processes (1976-2008): and since 2009 to date and until the party was toppled in a mass uprising in August 2024, into a party of cultic leadership, rigged elections, authoritarianism, repression, violence, patronage distribution and, not to forget, of mega loot, plunder, extortions etc.
Furthermore, and the sad part is that despite its gory record of years of brutal authoritarianism especially during the 2009-August2024 governing period that triggered an angry mass uprising, which the ruling Awami League responded by killing and injuring scores that at the end, resulted in the toppling of the government, an event which by itself should have prompted reflection and remorse, but no, none so far.
On the contrary, Awami League is in denial and much worse, planning revenge and that too with external help.
As it is Awami League’s activities have been banned by the Interim Government (IG) and several leaders of their including Sheikh Hasina, the head of the party have been indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and are facing trial, has not been invited to sign the Sanad and thus is unlikely to qualify to participate in the elections in 2026.
One would hope that one day sanity would return to the Awami League and that they would reform the party and make it a truly democratic political party and engage in Bangladesh’s democratic politics.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a party in disarray
To appreciate and understand the emergence and relevance of Bangladesh’s second biggest political, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which was established in 1978 one must go back in history and explore the backdrop against which the idea of BNP was conceived and the mission the party’s early architects especially its founding leader, Ziaur Rahman gave it and set out to accomplish.
General (Rtd.) Ziaur Rahman, a liberation hero and an incidental political leader, took over the reign of Bangladesh in 1976 in the most challenging of times, in the aftermaths of several rounds of failed coups and countercoups, who according to the New York times, helped, “putting a collapsing nation on its feet” founded BNP with three main guiding principles – (i) unite the people of Bangladesh by instilling in them a sense of belonging and pride through an inclusive national identity, called the “Bangladeshi nationalism”, (ii) promote transparency and accountability in governance, and (iii) thirdly, promote people-centric development through social mobilization.
Zia ruled Bangladesh for little more than four years and in this short period of time, he was able to advance Bangladesh at multiple levels, most recognizably economically, and instill among the people of Bangladesh a sense of pride, hope and direction.
In 1982 Zia’s rule ended abruptly and violently through a military coup. Following Zia’s death BNP became unsettled until Begum Zia, wife of Zia, then a housewife took charge and steadied the party, mainly by re-committing it to the very ideals its early founders invoked namely, Bangladeshi nationalism, people-centric development and transparency and accountability in governance, which made BNP relevant and appealing again.
However, in late nineties, a phenomenon called “Hawa Bhaban” entered BNP that rattled party’s chain of command and more particularly, sidelined party’s idealism and replaced with hero worship and opportunistic patronage distribution with the result that BNP once a party of collective purpose and hope, lost its way, from which it has never recovered.
Then during Shiekh Hasina’s 2009 – August 2024 authoritarian tenure BNP was subjected to ruthless persecution and witch hunting – BNP’s leader, Khaleda Zia was convicted allegedly on false charges of theft and confined in house arrest where she has been languishing since and her son, Tarique Zia, the second in command who was also convicted and jailed and again on dubious charges of corruption and murder, was allowed to leave the country live in self-exile in London, where he has been for the last seventeen years and running BNP in absentia, with the result that the party is like a ship adrift, leaderless and radar less.
Its recent refusal to sign on Sanad’s reform proposals indicate that the current BNP is unwilling to evolve as a genuine patriotic people-centric party which it once was.
Indeed, if BNP wishes to be relevant again and be a credible driver of the July Sanad it needs to bring discipline in the party, elect a new leader, in-country and re-commit the party to its founding ideals that are not that different those of the July Sanad.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI), a party with an image problem
After liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 and remaining underground for several years, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) re-emerged in 1979, from the ashes of the erstwhile East Pakistan wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan which opposed 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and actively collaborated with the Pakistan military.
Post-liberation Awami League government banned Jamaat in the aftermath of liberation of Bangladesh in 197. The party remained dormant till 1975.
A military coup in 1975 toppled the Awami League government and the government that took over lifted the ban on Jamaat in 1976.
Ban on Jamaat leaders was lifted in 1979 by the BNP government, and in the same year, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) was formed and registered with the Bangladesh Election Commission.
Since then, BJI has emerged as the third largest political party in Bangladesh.
In 2001, BJI joined the coalition government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Two of its leaders joined the BNP government as ministers who noted to have served the nation diligently and with integrity.
BJI suffered most during the recent reign of the deposed Hasina regime, 2009-August 2025. During this period, the ruling Awami League government put on trial a number BJI leaders on charges of 1971 war crimes and convicted – several BJI leaders received capital punishments, and others, varying jail sentences. Once again, BJI became inactive and remained so till August 2024.
After the toppling of the Awami League regime in August 2024, a new and re-energized BJI has since emerged and its popularity is also said to have also increased, though many especially women remain skeptical of the party’s stand on women, and others who are intimidated by the party’s supposed inclination towards Sharia Law fear should BJI come to power, the basic principles of secularist liberal democracy will suffer.
Then, there are those who – and this is despite the fact that the BJI leaders have more than once publicly apologized for their collaboration role in 1971- find it difficult to reconcile with Jamaat’s 1971 role and argue that Jamaat, is an “anti-liberation” force and thus lacks moral right to engage in the politics of Bangladesh.
“Baam,” the Left, the Asian NATO
Less said about the “Baam,” Bangladesh’s Left is better.
The so-called “Baam”, a motley collection of groups and individuals, who are high on rhetoric and low on action that some call them the Asian NATO (No Action, Talk Only) party and given that they frequently form opportunistic alliances with one or the other ruling party since 1971, others such late Maulana Bhashani, the veteran leader once described them as those who believe not in Marxism but in the philosophy of “Nogot lokkhi ja pao loiya lou” – grab whatever comes your way!
The National Citizen Party (NCP) – promising, evolving
Established on 28 February 2025 by the Students Against Discrimination and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, (National Citizen Committee) the National Citizen Party (NCP), a product of the July/August 2024 revolution aims to establish a “second republic” and “build a fair system where people’s rights are protected, corruption and nepotism are eliminated, and wealth is shared more equally.”
While NCP’s hearts and minds are in the right place, the party which is at its nascent state and evolving, and thus will be a while before it grows fully and functions as a full-fledged political party, organizationally and substantively, only then a more objective analysis of the party can be made.
The way forward
It is evident from the above that Bangladesh’s current political tapestry is anything but neat. It is tattered and tainted, needs repair which implies that holding free and fair elections without reforming and without committing them to the norms and practices of transparent and accountable governance would most certainly not help progressing to “second republic”, and “build a fair system where people’s rights are protected, corruption and nepotism are eliminated, and wealth is shared more equally.”
Rather, free and fair elections without the reform of the political parties and their unreserved commitment to the Reform Commission’s proposed good governance norms and practices would end up getting a government that people would vote for, not the government people would like to have and much worse, in the name of democracy, recycle every five years, “rotating plundering governments.”
This must not be allowed to happen.