Feuding JP factions ‘patch things up’

The two feuding factions of Jatiya Party reportedly patched things up last night and decided that party Chairman GM Quader would remain in his post and Raushan Ershad would become the Leader of the Opposition in parliament.

They also agreed to nominate Saad Ershad, son of HM Ershad, in the by-election to Rangpur-3 constituency, which fell vacant after Ershad passed away on July 14, party insiders said.

Representatives of the two factions met at a club in Bashundhara Residential Area last night to reach an understanding. 

JP presidium members SM Faisal Chisty, Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Fakhrul Imam, and Salim Osman led Raushan’s faction while JP presidium members Kazi Feroz Rashid, Syed Abu Hossain Babla, Masud Uddin Chowdhury, and Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu represented GM Quader.

The JP leaders would hold a press conference in a day or two to tell the media about the developments, said JP leaders.

“We have come to an understanding that GM Quader will remain as the party chairman while madam [Raushan Ershad] will become the Leader of the Opposition,” SM Faisal Chisty of Raushan’s faction told The Daily Star after the two-hour-long meeting.

Kazi Feroz Rashid of GM Quader’s faction echoed Faisal.

The post of Leader of the Opposition in parliament was the reason for the rift in post-Ershad JP.

Earlier yesterday, Raushan, the widow of Ershad, scheduled a meeting of JP parliamentary party today to select the Leader of the Opposition. In a press release, she had said the meeting would be held at her parliament office at 1:00pm.

Quader, chairman of JP, had sent a letter to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on September 3, requesting her to make him the Leader of the Opposition.

He claimed that 15 JP lawmakers backed him for the post. The JP has 25 lawmakers.

The following day, Raushan, also deputy leader of the opposition, sent another letter to the Speaker, urging her not to accept Quader’s request.

Quader yesterday declared that the party would hold its council on November 30 to elect the next leadership, including the chairman.

“The council will elect the party’s future leaders. I will accept the decision of the party leaders and activists,” he told a programme at the JP chairman’s Banani office in the city.

The event was organised to mark the joining of AR Ahmed Selim, presidium member of JP (Kazi Jafar), to Jatiya Party.

Quader said, “I don’t do politics for securing any post, position, or wealth. Our politics is for the country, its people and for the party.”

He said eight organisational teams were formed to strengthen the JP across the country.

The JP is being run as per its charter and instructions of its late founding chairman HM Ershad, he added.

THE RIFT

The rift over becoming the Leader of the Opposition had apparently split the JP into two as a group of party leaders on Thursday declared Raushan the chairman.

Presidium Member Anisul Islam Mahmud, also a lawmaker, made an announcement in this regard at a press conference at Raushan’s Gulshan home.

He also said a chairman would be appointed through holding of a council within the next six months.

A few hours later, Quader at another press conference said action would be taken against those who declared Raushan the JP chief.

PRESS BRIEFING POSTPONED

The Jatiya Party Parliamentary Board, led by Raushan, was supposed to hold a press conference yesterday after picking the party candidate for the October 5 by-election to Rangpur-3.  

The briefing was scheduled to be held at Raushan’s Gulshan home at 4:00pm but was postponed hours before.

The fourth session of the 11th parliament begins today after a 59-day recess. 

According to sources at the Parliament Secretariat, this will be a brief session.