NCP will not compromise with anyone for seats: Nahid Islam

The National Citizens Power (NCP) will under no circumstances compromise with any individual or group in exchange for power or parliamentary seats, declared the party’s convener, Nahid Islam. 

He emphasised that the NCP is determined to contest all 300 parliamentary seats independently. 

Even if the party fails to secure a single seat, it will remain firmly committed to its ideals, policies, and objectives, he added.

Nahid Islam made the remarks during a press conference held at the Shaheed Abu Sayeed Convention Centre in Shahbagh, Dhaka, at approximately 11:30 am on Sunday. 

The press conference was organised by the NCP’s central election management committee following the sale of nomination forms from November 6 to 20 in preparation for the upcoming national elections. 

Immediately after the press conference, the NCP began holding discussions with 1,484 aspirants who had purchased and submitted nomination papers for the 300 constituencies at the same venue.

Addressing the media, NCP convener Nahid Islam stated that various newspapers and outlets have been spreading numerous rumours and false reports about the party in recent days. 

He alleged that these efforts appear designed to push the NCP toward one particular side or narrative. 

He categorically clarified that the party is making every effort to field its own candidates in all 300 seats without entering into seat-sharing arrangements.

Nahid explained that the NCP wishes to present its own distinct politics directly to the people. 

However, he added that if any political party or force genuinely agrees with the NCP’s election manifesto, its demands, and its core principles, the party remains open to holding discussions with them. Any potential political understanding, he stressed, would have to be rooted firmly in principle and ideology. 

The NCP, he reiterated, will never enter into any agreement merely for the sake of obtaining power or seats.

Nahid Islam further elaborated, “If we ever engage in any alliance or discussion with another party, we are fully prepared to conduct those talks openly and transparently. We will inform the people of the country that there is nothing hidden or secretive in our process. Yet a kind of media trial is underway, speculating about discussions with this party or that party. Despite our political differences, it is natural, after the July mass uprising, for political parties to engage in dialogue, attend various programmes together, and hold talks.”

“We are participating in numerous informal and internal discussions. This is part of a healthy democratic culture. We urge the media not to frame or portray such normal political interactions in a particular biased manner,” he continued.

Pointing directly at the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, Nahid Islam accused certain political forces of negotiating behind the scenes over the July Charter, despite having once been allies. 

He claimed they are conspiring and planning to conduct a partition-based, compromise-driven election. 

Should such an election take place, he warned, it would severely damage Bangladesh’s democracy and derail the new possibilities and political aspirations that emerged from the mass uprising in July. 

The NCP, he declared unequivocally, will never accept or participate in any such compromise or settlement election. 

Instead, the party will actively oppose it and stand resolute against any such move.