Bangladesh's student-led party allies with Isamic group

The student-led Bangladeshi party born out of the protest movement that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has forged an electoral alliance with Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of February's parliamentary election, stirring internal rifts.



Since last year's uprising, the National Citizen Party (NCP) has cast itself as a centrist, reformist alternative to nepotism and two-party dominance, but as the election nears, it is struggling to turn street power into voter support.



NCP chief Nahid Islam ⁠said on Sunday the party had decided to enter into the alliance for greater unity, adding that the final list of candidates would be announced on Monday.



Other NCP figures have described the alliance as a pragmatic step in a fragmented political landscape.



But the decision to join forces with Jamaat has already prompted internal ructions.



Tasnim Jara, ⁠a doctor who left a career in Britain to join the NCP, becoming a leader in the party, resigned on Saturday and said she would contest the election as an independent candidate.



Several other members have also quit.



The alliance has drawn attention because Jamaat has long faced criticism for opposing Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan and its alleged role in 1971 war crimes.



Years of trials, leadership bans and political marginalisation have left the ⁠party with a limited but loyal support base.