BNP Breaks With Jamaat to Claim Hasina’s Liberal Mantle Ahead of February 2025 Vote

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the country’s largest opposition force, has formally broken ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami and is repositioning itself as a liberal, democratic alternative ahead of national elections scheduled for February 2025.

A Strategic and Ideological Shift

After 16 months of political upheaval that toppled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BNP leaders have begun to cast their party in a new light — emphasising pluralism, anti-sectarianism and democratic reform. The move reflects both a strategic calculation to capture the centre-left, secular-nationalist space once monopolised by the Awami League and an ideological recalibration in response to a changed political environment.

Why the Break With Jamaat Matters

For decades the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami were allied primarily through shared opposition to the Awami League. Ideologically they never fully aligned: the BNP has historically been nationalist, while Jamaat’s appeal is rooted in an Islamic political identity. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have publicly criticised Jamaat’s wartime record and warned against dividing the country "in the name of religion," signalling a clear effort to distance the party from religion-driven politics.

“People saw” what happened in 1971, Tarique Rahman told supporters — an oblique but widely understood reference to Jamaat’s opposition to independence during the Liberation War.

Political Context And Opportunity

The BNP’s rebranding follows a mass uprising that removed Hasina and ended years of Awami League dominance. Critics accused Hasina’s governments (2009–2024) of serious human rights abuses — including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and a harsh crackdown on political opponents — and described recent elections as deeply flawed. With the Awami League now banned and Hasina living in exile, the BNP sees an opening to court voters who want a pluralistic, democratic alternative.

The party is targeting a broad coalition: youth mobilised by the 2024 civic uprising, urban liberals, minority communities and disaffected former Awami League supporters. BNP strategists argue that shedding ties with Jamaat removes a major obstacle to winning those constituencies.

Internal And External Risks

The pivot carries risks. Observers and voters may doubt whether the change is sincere or merely tactical. There may be internal resistance within BNP ranks to a liberal reorientation. Additionally, the post-Hasina political field is crowded: youth-led groups such as the National Citizen Party (NCP) and various civil-society networks compete for the same pro-democracy vote, raising the prospect of fragmentation that could impede BNP gains.

Ultimately, the success of the transformation depends on consistency: whether the BNP sustains its new rhetoric with policy positions, candidate selections and concrete commitments to democratic norms, and whether voters accept the rupture with Jamaat as authentic rather than opportunistic.

What This Could Mean For Bangladesh

If the BNP’s realignment endures, it may mark the most consequential ideological shift in Bangladeshi politics since the early 1990s — a former centre-right party staking a claim to liberal democratic politics in a post-Hasina Bangladesh. For now, BNP leaders are speaking a different language: inclusiveness, anti-sectarianism, and democratic reform — and they are doing so loudly.