Some former army officials are planning to bring forth a political party in March under the coordination of Brig Gen (retd) Md Shamim Kamal.
A good number of retired army officers, including lieutenant generals, major generals and brigadier generals, as well as some former BNP MPs, and also independent lawmakers who contested the 2024 election have already come together to this end, Shamim told The Daily Star.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. “In our recruitment process, we are targeting individuals who would be able to lead a constituency,” said Kamal, son of Mojibur Rahman, a seven-time Jatiya Party MP from Lalmonirhat-2.
The move, he claimed, has the support of the private university students, many of whom feel they have been sidelined post-August 5 despite having played a major role in the July uprising.
The name of the party is yet to be decided, but will be unveiled by March. The party-in-process had an initial meeting in Tower 71 near ECB Chattar in Dhaka on February 2.
The concept note they have prepared says they aim to place some honest, educated, and patriotic people in parliament. The candidates will be selected from the grassroots.
“We are aiming to get 30 or 40 seats in the next election,” said Kamal, who has business in South Sudan and Uganda.
He added that they will not include any controversial or corrupt person in the party, nor would they take any donations from any questionable sources.
“If needed, we will collect funds from ourselves…. Our ideology is Bangladeshi nationalism,” he said.
According to the concept note, the party will seek to end dynastic and oligarchy-governed politics.
It will also seek to promote a diplomatic policy that will establish and protect friendly relations with true allies; and promote a uniform education system for all, and make Bangla the mandatory medium.
Its short-term goal is to get as many seats as it can, but in 10 years it wants to lead the government, the concept note says.