NCP to contest JS polls from 300 seats

The National Citizens Party (NCP), one of the pivotal forces behind the historic July Upsurge, has announced its readiness for the upcoming national elections despite unresolved issues over its registration, party symbol and the legal status of the July Charter. The party has finalized its field candidates in all 300 constituencies, signaling a determined move to contest independently - though an 'Electoral Alliance' for voting purposes remains a strategic option.

Despite being among the mastermind and torchbearers of the July movement that gave birth to the National Charter, the NCP's abstention from signing the document has created political uncertainty ahead of the polls expected in February next year.

The party demanded three specific preconditions for its endorsement of the July Charter including- amending certain clauses, incorporating the Charter into the constitution and granting state recognition to the participants of the July movement. While the National Consensus Commission (NCC) made last-minute changes to the fifth phase of the Charter to ensure recognition of July fighters, the NCP leadership remained dissatisfied and didn't sign the Charter as the legitimacy of the Charter is still opaque.

"We clarified our stance that an order must be published regarding the implementation of the Charter. We'll go through the text of it and if we are convinced, then we'll sign," NCP Joint Member Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa told The Daily Observer.

"We joined the Charter process because we want to sign. We have a big contribution in formulating the charter.

 Many proposals were accepted due to pressure from NCP. But we must go through the text of the implementation order and we shall have to be convinced after it is signed by Dr Yunus. Then we shall sign," he emphasized.

Musa further clarified the party's constitutional position stating, "There is no chance to pass the order under the existing constitution. If you want to go out of the existing constitution, you have to find the legitimacy of it from the mass upsurge. Dr Yunus is the representative of that upsurge. It'll not be an ordinance. No amendment or inclusion in the constitution is possible by ordinance. The July upsurge reflects the mass or sovereign expression - it is stated in the constitution that the highest law of the state is the public expression."

NCP and four left wing political parties - the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), BSD (Marxist) and Bangladesh JASAD - remained absent in the charter signing ceremony on October 17, which is the talk of the moment in political circle. But absence of two members of the Advisery Council of the interim government Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan and Mahfuz Alam, who were the part of July movement, due to the impasse between the NCP and the NCC, gave new shape to the debate. 

However, the party maintains that signing the Charter without ensuring a clear mechanism for implementation would amount to "a betrayal to the people" and claimed, "If a legal basis had not been given, there would have been no need for so many arrangements and sacrifices for just an informal social contract."

Both the interim government and the NCC have maintained regular communication with the NCP to bring it on board. Even, the night before the signing ceremony, Information Adviser Mahfuz Alam met NCP representatives at a closed-door meeting at Nahid's residence to bring them at the programme.