Nahid Islam, the convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), launched a blistering attack on Jamaat-e-Islami today, accusing the Islamist party of engaging in a “calculated political deception” aimed at derailing the crucial post-uprising constitutional reform agenda.
In a status posted on his personal Facebook account on October 19, Nahid Islam—whose NCP emerged from the student-led July Uprising that toppled the previous regime—claimed the so-called “Proportional Representation (PR) Movement” championed by Jamaat was nothing more than “political sabotage disguised as reformism.”
The criticism comes as the National Consensus Commission works to finalize the implementation roadmap for the landmark “July National Charter 2025,” a document detailing sweeping constitutional and institutional changes agreed upon by most political parties following the mass uprising in 2024.
The Underlying Conflict: Constitutional Restructuring vs. Electoral Gain
Nahid Islam contends that the core issue following the July Revolution is the “restructuring of the state and constitution in light of the people’s uprising,” and establishing the “legal framework of the July Charter.” The NCP had previously advocated for an Upper House based on proportional representation, but framed this as a high-level “constitutional safeguard” against future autocratic rule.
However, according to Nahid Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies, including Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), have weaponized the PR concept. The PR system, where parliamentary seats are allocated based on the percentage of national votes, is widely seen as strategically advantageous for smaller, highly organized parties like Jamaat, who often struggle under the current “First-Past-the-Post” (FPTP) system.
Islam argues that by reducing the comprehensive reform demand into a single, technical electoral issue, Jamaat is pursuing “narrow partisan interests” rather than systemic democracy. The NCP, which has itself taken a hard line—refusing to sign the July Charter earlier this month due to a lack of a definitive legal implementation roadmap—views Jamaat’s focus as a diversionary tactic to avoid the deeper constitutional commitment demanded by the student movement.
Nahid Islam accused Jamaat of never engaging in substantive reform discourse, highlighting that their sudden endorsement within the Consensus Commission was a “tactical infiltration.” He concluded with a strong warning, stating that the people are now awakened and will not permit “dishonest, opportunistic, and morally bankrupt forces to rule over them.” This social media post underscores the deep ideological fissures opening up between the student-led political movement and established religious and political parties in the nascent post-uprising landscape.
