Prime Minister's Political Assistant Rashed Khan on Monday said the National Citizen Party (NCP) would eventually have to end its political relationship with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for the sake of its political survival, saying such an alliance could not last.

“An arrangement between the NCP and Jamaat can never continue. Sooner or later, the NCP will have to end this relationship. This is necessary for the NCP's political growth,” he said in a Facebook post.

Rashed said the NCP should sever ties with Jamaat and focus on reorganising the party if it wanted to establish an independent political identity.

However, if the NCP considered securing a few seats in Parliament its main goal, driven by short-term aspirations for power, it would have to maintain its relationship with Jamaat, he said.

“If the NCP believes that winning a few seats in parliamentary politics is its goal, driven by the temptation of short-term power, that is a different matter. In that case, the NCP and Jamaat will have to maintain their co-existence like a household with co-wives, sometimes expressing anger and resentment and at other times reaching compromises,” the Prime Minister's assistant said.

He questioned the position of women leaders in the NCP, saying several emerging female leaders, including Samanta Shermeen, Dr Tasnim Jara and Tajnuva Jabeen, had left the party.

Rashed also claimed that women with independent views beyond Jamaat's ideology were being marginalised within the NCP.

Referring to a series of resignations, he said 10 important leaders, including central joint member secretary and one of the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Arif Sohel, had resigned from the NCP together before the national election.

“Even after the national election, many leaders have resigned, and the number of resignations continues to rise,” the Prime Minister assistant added.

Advising the NCP to cut ties with Jamaat to retain leaders with independent thinking, he wrote, “If the NCP does not want to become devoid of leaders with independent views, it must sever ties with Jamaat and focus on reorganising itself. A sapling like the NCP will never get sunlight and fresh air independently under Jamaat's shadow; rather, it will gradually become a parasitic plant.”

Rashed also questioned whether young people would be interested in joining the NCP if it remained under Jamaat's leadership.