National Citizen Party (NCP) Secretary General Akhtar Hossain today said a significant portion of voters—particularly those not aligned with any political party—are still undecided and are waiting to see who can offer a genuinely new political path for Bangladesh.
“The people will vote for those who can offer the country a new genre of politics,” he told the ‘National Representative Conference-2025’ organized by Jatiya Jubo Shakti, youth wing of NCP, at the Shaheed Abu Sayed Convention Hall in the capital.
Akhter said NCP and the ‘Gonotantrik Shongskar Jote’ (Democratic Reform Alliance) are trying to bring that message of new politics to the people. “Many citizens are waiting for an alternative—an honest, policy-based politics beyond old divisions,” he added.
He said the Democratic Reform Alliance, formed by NCP, AB Party and the Bangladesh Rastro Sanskar Andolan, was not created to calculate electoral gains.
“Bangladesh’s political course cannot be determined merely by electoral arithmetic,” he said, adding that the alliance aims to advance much-needed reforms rooted in the aspirations of citizens across the country.
Akhter said many voters across Bangladesh have not yet decided which party or symbol they will support in the 2026 national election. “Long-time supporters of old parties will naturally vote for their own parties, but a large number of ordinary people are waiting for a politics that rises above the old order,” he said.
He highlighted that the upcoming 2026 election was supposed to be an election of reform, not merely a contest for state power. Those who fought against fascist structures in previous years, wanted this election to reshape the political framework of Bangladesh, not reinforce the existing one, he said.
“Instead, the election is being turned into a showdown between two sides—one claiming experience from past rule, and the other branding itself as new despite having shared power earlier,” he added.
Akhter said the real question for Bangladesh today is how to rebuild politics around policies, how to empower students, workers, farmers, youth, women and people of all faiths, and how to create a truly self-reliant nation. “But political parties are trying to influence voters with narratives focused only on capturing power,” he said.
He added that the 2026 election also contains an element of a “referendum,” as people will indirectly decide how much of the reform agenda envisioned in the July Charter and reflected in subsequent reform directives should be implemented.
Akhter urged voters to reject the divisive “binary politics” that has long dominated Bangladesh and instead support those working to move the state beyond its authoritarian structures toward democratic transformation. “NCP and a few dedicated individuals are the only ones keeping the politics of reform alive,” he said.
He called upon the leaders of Jatiya Jubo Shakti to strengthen unity and carry the message of new politics to every corner of the country. “The youth who came to the streets during the 2024 uprising in pursuit of a new Bangladesh cannot be misled again by fear or temptation,” he said.
Chaired by Jubo Shakti Convener Advocate Md Tariqul Islam, it was also addressed by NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary, Jubo Shakti Member Secretary Dr Zahidul Islam and Chief Organiser Engineer Farhad Sohel.
