No current plans to form political party, says Advisor Nahid Islam

A Reuters report has spurred rumours that some student protesters were considering electoral politics

Nahid Islam, the Anti-discrimination Student Movement leader who became an advisor to the interim government, has squashed suggestions that the students are considering the formation of a new political party.

“At this moment, we have no plans to form a political party,” he said in a status on his Facebook account at 10pm on Friday night.

For the past few days there have been discussions on mainstream and social media about the student group forming a new political party after its success at ousting the Awami League government.

But Nahid said in his post that the formation of a political party is not the direction of their popular uprising.

He urged people to stand by the families of the injured, those ‘martyred’ in the movement, and to maintain the spirit of the movement and national unity.

The students and the interim government will work towards that goal, he says.

“The abolishing of the fascist system and the creation of a new political structure in its place was part of our one-point movement. This requires a lot of work and political action. We want to shape the future of Bangladesh through discussions and dialogue with the people.”

International newswire service Reuters had published a story on Thursday afternoon that suggested some members of the student movement were considering the formation of a new party.

It quoted a student coordinator named Tahmid Chowdhury saying 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,” the report stated.

Reuters quoted Tahmid as saying: "We don't have any other plan that could break the binary without forming a party."