One of the most notable developments in recent weeks in Bangladesh has been the transformation of the country’s student-led protest movement into an organised political force. On 28 February 2025, the leaders of last year’s mass demonstrations formally launched the National Citizens Party (NCP). The party is led by 26-year-old Nahid Islam, who resigned from his post as acting head of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the interim government to take on the role. At a rally near the national parliament, NCP leaders laid out a platform centred on unity, transparency, good governance and an independent foreign policy rooted in a vision for a “second republic”. Lima Akter, whose brother was killed during the July 2024 uprising, introduced Islam as the party’s convenor. Her promi...