THE shift in political culture witnessed in the days after the national elections on February 12, marked by ruling and opposition leaders making courtesy visits that express a shared commitment to serve the nation, is unprecedented. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chair, Tarique Rahman, now prime minister, paid a courtesy call on leaders of the alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami and sought support and cooperation in the democratic transition. The Jamaat chief, as the leader of opposition, also acted with relative restraint after the election results and issued a statement on February 14, saying that the party would act as a principled and peaceful opposition while contributing constructively to national progress. Not all of its post-election actions are, however, consistent with the official statement. Jamaat, at a number of post-election press conferences, has announced a ‘tough movement’ even before the parliament was sworn in. The alliance led by Jamaat, at a February 16 rally against post-election violence, levelled allegations that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was involved in subtle election engineering and lacked commitment to implementing the July charter. The words and actions, therefore, already appear inconsistent.
The implementation of the July charter, a road map for constitutional and institutional reforms that parties contesting the elections consented to, was the centre of the electoral campaigns. Given that the July charter represents the latest expression of national political aspirations and gained legitimacy through a public referendum, all political parties in the parliament should take its implementation seriously. Jamaat’s warning at a rally that the ruling party would meet the same fate as the fallen Awami League is, however, not tenable. The party has already broken the promises of the charter that it signed in October 2025. Regarding women’s representation in the parliament, the July charter obliges all signatory parties to nominate at least 5 per cent of seats to women. In the elections, Jamaat did not nominate a single woman, which is a glaring violation of the charter. Considering that Jamaat has already violated the July charter, there are reasons to assume that it is raising the concern not out of a commitment to democratic reform but for partisan interests.
The shift in political culture witnessed in the ruling and opposition party leadership was not, however, reflected at the grass roots, as post-election violence has already killed three people. The parties in the parliament, therefore, need to go beyond courtesy calls in the capital while the grass roots are engaged in violence. The alliance led by Jamaat, especially the Jamaat-e-Islami, must first acknowledge its own deviations from the July charter and commit to its implementation before taking to the streets to call on others to do the same.
