Former DUCSU vice-president Nur unveils new party with Reza Kibria as convenor

Nurul Haque Nur, former vice-president of Dhaka University Students’ Union, has launched a new political party with Reza Kibria, son of the late Awami League leader Shah AMS Kibria, as the convenor.

Nur is the member secretary of the new party, Bangladesh Gana Odhikar Parishad. The members of the 83-strong committee are former and current leaders of Nur’s organisations for students, youths and workers.

Reza revealed a plan to field a candidate for each of the 300 seats in the next parliamentary election, demanding a caretaker government during the polls. 

He said the party would discuss the issue of an election-time caretaker government with other political organisations.

Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, the trustee of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, attended the event at the new party’s headquarters at Pritam Zaman Tower in Purana Paltan on Tuesday.   

The party announced plans to focus on the prevention of corruption, the balance of power, good governance, the right to vote and other issues, said Md Rashed Khan, joint convenor of the new party.    

Nur came to the limelight after his organisation Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights spearheaded a campaign against quotas in government jobs in 2018. He was elected the VP of DUCSU in 2019.    

Reza’s father, Shah AMS Kibria, served as the finance minister under Sheikh Hasina from 1996 to 2001. He was re-elected to the Habiganj-1 seat (Nabiganj-Bahubal) in 2001 and was killed in a grenade attack in Habiganj in 2005.

Reza had worked in the International Monetary Fund for a long time. He left the job and joined Dr Kamal Hossain’s Gono Forum in 2018. He resigned due to a dispute in the party after Dr Kamal had made him the general secretary.