New alliance of 18 parties formed, including groups that participated in the 2024 polls
The alliance was announced today (8 December) at a press conference at a convention hall in Gulshan
A new alliance of 18 parties has been formed ahead of the 13th National Parliament election, bringing together those parties and factions of the Jatiya Party that took part in the highly controversial and one-sided 2024 polls. The alliance has been named the National Democratic Front (NDF).
Led by a faction of the Jatiya Party (JaPa) and the Jatiya Party (JP), this alliance has been named the National Democratic Front (NDF). A total of 18 parties are in this alliance, including the two factions led by Anisul Islam Mahmud and Anwar Hossain Manju of the Jatiya Party.
The alliance was announced today (8 December) at a press conference at a convention hall in Gulshan, attended by leaders of both Jatiya Party factions and representatives of the other member parties.
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Anwar Hossain Manju has been appointed chief adviser of the alliance, while ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader, secretary general of one Jatiya Party faction, will serve as spokesperson.
Golam Sarwar Milon, acting chairman of Janata Party Bangladesh, has been made secretary general of the NDF.
Alongside JaPa and JP, the other member parties are Trinamool BNP, BNM, Bangladesh Sanskritic Muktijot, Janata Party Bangladesh, Bangladesh Muslim League, Jatiya Islamic Mahajote, Jatiya Sangskar Jote, Bangladesh Labour Party, Jatiya Shwadhinata Party, Bangladesh Manbadhikar Party, Bangladesh Sarbajanin Dal, Bangladesh Janakalyan Party, Applied Democratic Party, Bangladesh Ganatantrik Andolon, Democratic Party, and Bangladesh Jatiya League.
At the press conference, Anisul Islam said, "We have decided to form this political alliance to ensure meaningful democratic transformation, build national consensus to overcome the ongoing political crisis, uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, and respond to the aspirations of the July 2024 mass movement."
He said the alliance aims to advance state reforms, strengthen Bangladeshi nationalism, promote centrist liberal democratic politics, preserve Islamic values and interfaith harmony, establish an independent judiciary, end authoritarianism, and amplify public demands for good governance.
He added that alliance members would retain their own ideology and identity while engaging in elections and political activities based on shared principles and agreed agendas.
Officials from the embassies of India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brunei in Dhaka were present at the launch event.
Speaking as the chief guest, Anwar Hossain Manju praised the initiative but noted that, in his experience, many such political fronts struggle to survive.
He said that although Bangladesh has seen infrastructural development over 54 years, basic rights and a sense of safety for citizens remain uncertain. Successive governments, he said, have ruled through intimidation, and the core spirit of independence remains unfulfilled. "True independence," he said, "is the ability to speak and live without fear — something that is still not guaranteed.
