Bangladesh students plan new party to end duopoly of Hasina, Khaleda

DHAKA: Student demonstrators who ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina have rejected calls from Bangladesh's two main political parties for quick elections and are considering creating their own party to cement in place reforms, according to interviews with four protest leaders.

Their hope — to avoid a repeat of the last 15 years, in which Hasina ruled the country of around 170 million people with an iron fist.

For most of the past three decades, Bangladesh has been governed either by Hasina or her rival Khaleda Zia, both of whom are in their 70s.

Student leaders are discussing forming a political party to end the duopoly, said Mahfuj Alam, who chairs a committee tasked with liaising between the government and social groups such as teachers and activists.

A decision would be made in about a month, the 26-year-old law student told Reuters, adding that protest leaders wanted to consult widely with ordinary voters before deciding on a platform.

Details of the students' plans for their movement's political future have not previously been reported.

"People are really tired of the two political parties. They have trust in us," he said, at the gates of Dhaka University's Arts Faculty.

Tahmid Chowdhury, another student coordinator who helped bring down Hasina, said there was a "high chance" they would form a political party. They were still working out their program, though he said it would be rooted in secularism and free speech.

"We don't have any other plan that could break the binary without forming a party," said the 24-year-old graduate student in world religion.

The student leaders in interim government have not specified what policies they intend to pursue, beyond sweeping institutional changes — such as reforming the electoral commission handpicked by Hasina — to avoid another spell of authoritarian rule.

"The spirit of the movement was to create a new Bangladesh, one where no fascist or autocrat can return," said Nahid Islam, 26, a key protest organiser who sits in Yunus' cabinet. "To ensure that, we need structural reforms, which will definitely take some time."

Touhid Hossain, a career diplomat serving as Yunus' de facto foreign minister, told Reuters the students had not discussed their political plans with the technocrats.

But he added: "the political scenario is going to change because we have basically excluded the young generation from politics."