DHAKA – Christian lay leaders are seeking representation in the upcoming parliamentary election in Bangladesh scheduled to be held in February.

Leaders of the Bangladesh Christian Forum met with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Joint Secretary Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir on Oct. 13 and sought nomination from the party for Advocate John Gomes from the Christian community for a place in the next parliament.

Gomes is the BNP National Executive Committee’s Religious Affairs Co-Secretary and Bangladesh Christian Religious Welfare Trust’s Co-Chair. If he gets a nomination, he will run from the Natore-4 seat in northern Bangladesh.

“We support Advocate John Gomes on behalf of the Christian community in the next parliamentary election and have sought BNP’s nomination for him. Because he is a visionary and a savior leader,” Bangladesh Christian Forum Secretary General Anil Leo Costa told Crux.

“For the development of a country, especially a community in Bangladesh, it is necessary to have people at the policy-making level of the country, and since we Christians are lagging in leadership at the national level, we want to gradually get involved in the politics of the country,” he said.

In Bangladesh, where there are more than 170 million people, the Christian community makes up less than one percent.

Thirteen national elections have been held in the country since 1971, and only one Christian community member has been elected to the national parliament by direct vote, while there have been two women from reserved women’s seats at different times. All of them were nominated by the Awami League, the party considered friendly to religious minorities.

However, on August 5 last year, the Awami League, which had been in power for 16 years, was ousted after a youth-led uprising. During the revolt the party’s chief, Sheikh Hasina, fled to neighboring India.

In the current politics of the country, it is assumed that the BNP will lead in the next parliament. Other participants in the election include the hardline Islamic party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami – which is accused of directly opposing the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971 – and the Jatiya Nagorik Party (National Civil Party), which led the July uprising in 2024.

Many members of the Christian community active in Bangladeshi politics have been associated with the BNP, but many did not come forward with their support for BNP due to the 16-year repression by the Awami League. After the fall of the Awami League government, however, some of those Christians have come forward and become active in politics.

Rita Roselin Costa, director of Caritas Bangladesh’s Trust CORR-The Jute Works, said it is very important for Christians to be represented in Bangladeshi politics.

“Christians in Bangladesh, especially the Catholic Church, are making a great contribution to education, the health sector, and social development, but they are not able to play a role in politics in comparison because they are only a small number,” Costa told Crux.

She was present at the discussion meeting on Oct. 13.

“If we Catholics have any demands to the government, we have a problem if we do not have a representative, and many laws go against our values, work. That is why we need a representative in parliament,” she said.

After the discussion and the demands raised by the Christian community, Mirza Fakrul Islam said: “John Gomes is your representative as well as our (BNP) representative.”

“I heard your demands and also accepted the written demands. I will send them to the acting president of the party, Tarique Rahman. I hope that when the party nominates for the elections, John Gomes will be at the top of our list.” Islam said

“We seek your cooperation in the next election, your entire community. Gomes is in a good place in the BNP,” he added.

Rahman has been living in London since 2008. He left Bangladesh to flee accusations against him made by the previous government.

“Maybe due to some personal reasons, the return has not happened yet. But I think the time has come,” he told the BBC to explain why he has not returned to his homeland.

“This is an election for which people had been waiting, I cannot keep myself away during this time,” he said.

Rahman has attended various Christian events in London. Many observers consider it all but a foregone conclusion that he will become Prime Minister of Bangladesh if the BNP gets a majority in the next elections.