Students who played a major role in ousting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government last year have announced the formation of a new political faction which aims to shake up the political landscape in the South Asian country.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) will be headed by Nahid Islam, one of the best-known protest leaders.

Until recently, he served as an adviser to the interim government — led by the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus — that took charge of Bangladesh after Hasina's exit.

Addressing a public rally in the capital Dhaka on Friday, Islam said, "We believe the July 2024 uprising initiated the fight towards a second republic. By writing a new democratic constitution, we must eliminate any possibility of future constitutional autocracy."

Bangladesh has been grappling with political infighting since Hasina fled following weeks of mass, anti-government protests during which over 1,000 people were killed. Hasina currently remains in self-imposed exile in neighboring India.

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Since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971, two parties — Hasina's Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of her rival Khaleda Zia — have dominated Bangladeshi politics, while smaller leftist and Islamic parties have struggled to gain........

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