Press Release
Manifestos in Bangladesh's 2026 Election: Offering Cosmetic Solutions, Silent about Real Structural Change

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami have recently unveiled their detailed election manifestos that, despite their differences, both propose a vision for a welfare state model derivative of Western capitalism. The BNP's manifesto, "Shobar Agey Bangladesh," centers on a plan to build a reformed state with a democratized economy, aiming to transform Bangladesh into an upper-middle-income country with a $1 trillion economy by 2034. In contrast, Jamaat-e-Islami's "A safe and humane Bangladesh's manifesto" explicitly calls for the establishment of a transparent and accountable welfare state, focusing on justice, institutional reform, and social protection.

We, Hizb ut Tahrir, state clearly that these manifestos offer nothing more than cosmetic pledges and hollow rhetoric, fundamentally incapable of delivering true freedom and sovereign development. These critically fail to challenge the core mechanisms of neocolonial exploitation, such as IMF-World Bank prescriptions for agricultural subsidy cuts, privatization, and policies that dismantle local industry. While promoting FDI and open markets, they ignore how these very policies surrender national assets — like the energy sector to corporations like Chevron and ExxonMobil and strategic ports to private control — ensuring continued economic subservience. Ultimately, without a commitment to dismantle this exploitative capitalist system and reject the "trickle-down" model that loots public wealth, the manifestos offer no real alternative to the structural oppression that impoverishes the populace and blocks the path to true liberation.

At their core, these manifestos are exercises in voter seduction by willfully ignoring the true structural crisis: a capitalist system serving a domestic elite only. The public must understand that while political rule may change, the oppressive capitalist system persists, perpetually harming the masses to enrich a small elite and their imperialist backers. Therefore, any promise that fails to uproot this foundational system amounts to nothing more than a cosmetic change and cannot lead to genuine liberation.

O People, the continuous cycle of superficial political change proves that any system rooted in flawed human sovereignty is inherently flawed. True justice for Bangladesh cannot be achieved through secular capitalist models that serve the elite. The only viable solution is to establish governance upon the divine sovereignty of Allah (swt), the sole lawgiver. This system, where qualified Khulafah (Caliphs) govern by Divine Law, inherently ensures justice and aligns with human nature. We urge all citizens to recognize that the path to true liberation from exploitation and subservience lies in this divine framework. We invite you to unite in the struggle to establish the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood — the only system capable of guaranteeing justice, enabling self-sufficient industrialization, and restoring the dignity of the Ummah, as promised by Allah (swt).

[وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ]

“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will certainly make them successors in the land, as He did with those before them…” [Surah An-Nur:55]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Bangladesh