The Jatiya Party may introduce a special post for Raushan Ershad, its senior co-chairperson and opposition leader, at the upcoming council to pacify a section of party leaders who want to see her as the chairperson, party insiders said.

Raushan is likely to be made “chief patron” of the party at its next council scheduled for December 28, the insiders added.  

GM Quader, the party chairman, and top leaders loyal to him are apparently behind the move, said a party source.  

The JP will have to amend its charter at the council to create the new post, SM Faysal Chisty, a presidium member, told The Daily Star. 

The move comes against the backdrop of a High Court ruling yesterday, which questioned the legality of Quader being appointed the party chairperson without holding any council.  

The court issued a rule asking Quader and the Election Commission to explain in four weeks why his appointment should not be declared illegal, Deputy Attorney General Noor us Sadik told The Daily Star. 

Jatiya Party’s central committee member Mohammad Zahir Uddin filed the writ petition.  

Noor us Sadik said as per the constitution of the party, its office bearers would be appointed through a council, something which had not been done in Quader’s appointment.   

“Quader wants to solidify his grip on the party through the council. But Raushan madam can put up a stiff challenge,” said a JP presidium member loyal to Raushan.  

“That’s why Quader bhai wants to put Raushan madam in a ceremonial post to make her happy,” he added.  

Regarding the amendment to the party charter, a JP leader said a presidium meeting would be held in a day or two to approve the matter.  

At the council, JP might amend its charter in a bid to create a steering committee, sources said.   

The JP chairman will take advice from the steering committee in times of emergencies, said party insiders.  

Asked, JP presidium member Faysal Chisty said they were all set to hold the party’s council at the Institution of Engineers in the capital.  

He also said around 12,000 delegates, including 4,000 councillors from 74 organisational districts, are expected to participate in the council where the party’s new leadership would be elected.   

Meanwhile, JP sources said a section of leaders loyal to Raushan is trying to make her the chairperson for their own interests.  

They said they would raise the issue in the party’s presidium meeting.  

After the demise of HM Ershad on July 14, both Raushan and Quader were at loggerheads over who would become the JP chairman and leader of the opposition.  

Later, Quader was declared as the JP chairman, an appointment opposed by Raushan’s faction.  

Factions of Raushan and GM Quader, after several meetings in September, came to an understanding that Quader would remain the chairperson, while Raushan would be the opposition leader.  

Since then Quader, who had in April been announced as the chairperson by the late JP chairman HM Ershad, also his elder brother, has been holding the post unchallenged.  

CHANGES IN THE POST OF SECRETARY GENERAL? 

Jatiya Party insiders said Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga might lose his post due to his recent “derogatory” remarks on Shaheed Noor Hossain, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.  

Party insiders said Ranga had lost the blessings of the ruling Awami League following his comments on Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina.  

Names of Kazi Firoz Rashid, Ziauddin Ahmed, Ruhul Amin Howlader and Fakhrul Imam are being discussed for the post of secretary general, said JP insiders.  

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader handed over a letter to speaker of the parliament tonight requesting her to appoint Raushan Ershad as leader of the opposition in the House.

After receiving the letter, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury assured Quader to act according to the relevant rules.

In a major development, Jatiya Party is going to consider for curtailing the “special power” of the party’s chairman as mentioned in its charter.

According to the section 20/1/Ka of the JP charter, JP chairman can form, re-constitute, revoke and scrap any committees at any level of the party, if necessary, no matter what other sections of the party’s charter say.

According to the special power, the JP chairman was entitled to create and revoke any post in the party.

“We yesterday took a decision to amend the section 20/1/Ka of the party’s constitution that empowered its chairman to take any decision unilaterally,” Jatiya Party Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga told reporters after a meeting of the Party’s Parliamentary Party (JPPP).

The meeting was held at the office of Raushan Ershad, deputy leader of the opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The party council which is scheduled to be held on November 30, will take the final decision about the amendment, Ranga said.

Ranga also said Section 20/1/Ka of the JP charter will be made more democratic through the amendment. However, he did not elaborate further in this regard.

The JPPP in the meeting also decided that Raushan will become the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament and GM Quader will act as the party’s chairman.

Twenty-four JP lawmakers out of total 25 were present at the meeting.

A group of foreign and local election observers, who monitored the December 30 parliamentary election, has termed the election free, fair, peaceful and on a par with major democratic countries in the world.

The foreign observers from Canada, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, who came to Bangladesh at the invitation of  Election Monitoring Forum (EMF) and SAARC Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), also said the just concluded election was “much better” than past elections in Bangladesh and could be a “glowing example for other democratic countries”.

The foreign observers were speaking at a press conference held at Jatiya Press Club yesterday to share what they have seen during their daylong visit to nine polling centres in the capital on Sunday.

“This was a world standard election…We can compare this with the elections of major democratic countries,” said former president of Kolkata Press Club, Kamal Bhattacharya.

The senior journalist told Bangladeshi media that he had covered two past elections in Bangladesh as a reporter, and this time he came as an observer.

“I talked to a number of voters standing in queues and inside polling centres and no one told me they faced any threat, harassment or intimidation,” he said.

He said voters had trust and confidence in the Election Commission and authorities concerned that they would follow the best practices in the election; the arrangements helped voters to cast their votes smoothly and with safety.

Another observer from Nepal, Advocate Mohamadin Ali, said Bangladesh has set the best example of a high standard election.

Former minister and member of Nepal Communist Party, Hakikullah Musalman, said he was immensely impressed to see such a peaceful, disciplined and orderly election in Bangladesh.

Speaking at the press conference, Prof Mohammed Abed Ali, executive director of Election Monitoring Forum, informed that the forum is an association of 31 organisations and 26 NGOs registered under the Election Commission.

He said they deployed 5,765 observers in 214 constituencies out of 299, who visited 17,165 centres. Abed Ali said it was a peaceful election and it was far better than previous ones.

Director General of External Publicity Wing of the Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood; Canadian observers Tania Dawn Foster and Chally Foster; Nepalese Communist Party member and former MP Nazir Mia; lawyer of Kolkata Judge Court Gautom Ghosh; writer and researcher from Sri Lanka Mohammed Ehsan Iqbal; and SAARC Human Rights Foundation's director Masum Chowdhury were also present at the press conference.

Ending weeklong series of drama and tension in the main opposition party in parliament, Jatiya Party senior co-chairman Raushan Ershad has been made Leader of the Opposition while its chairman GM Quader as deputy leader of the opposition.

The parliament secretariat today published a gazette recognising Raushan and Quader as opposition leader and deputy leader of the opposition respectively following Speaker Sharmin Chaudhury’s consent.

As per the understanding between Raushan and Quader faction on Saturday night, the JP chairman on Sunday sent a letter to the Speaker requesting her to make him deputy opposition leader and Raushan, the opposition leader.

Earlier on Sunday, the Jatiya Party Parliamentary Party in its meeting formally selected Raushan as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

The weeklong drama and tension in post-Ershad JP intensified on September 3, the day, GM Quader sent a letter to the Speaker, 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.

On September 5, Raushan was declared JP chairperson as the rift between her and GM Quader over the party leadership and post of Leader of the Opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad deepens.

Flanked by a section of JP leaders and MPs, senior presidium member Anisul Islam Mahmud, also a lawmaker, made the announcement at a press conference in Raushan’s Gulshan residence.

Raushan, who was present there, said JP leaders were worried about the party. “They also fear that the party is going to split up like it did in the past. But I want to run the party together, with all.”

The announcement exposes the turmoil in JP sans HM Ershad, who died on July 14 after prolonged bouts of illness.

Hours after the Raushan faction’s press conference, Quader held a briefing at the party’s Banani office and said action would be taken against those who declared Raushan the JP chief.

He said that according to the party charter, he is still the chairman.

On July 18, JP Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga formally announced that Quader was the JP chairman.

Four days later, Raushan in a statement said Quader could not be declared the chairman without any decision made at party forums. She said she did not accept Quader as the chairman.

On September 7, the two feuding factions of Jatiya Party patched things up and decided that party Chairman GM Quader would remain in his post and Raushan Ershad would become the Leader of the Opposition in parliament.

Representatives of the two factions met at a city hotel to reach an understanding.

Meanwhile, Quader yesterday at a press conference at his Banani office said there is no division in JP at present as the JP leaders and activists are working united to strengthen the party to go to power.

Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader today appointed Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud MP as the party’s senior co-chairman.

The JP boss also appointed ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, Kazi Feroz Rashid MP, Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, Syed Abu Hossain Babla MP, Mujibul Haque Chunnu MP and Salma Islam MP as the party’s senior co-chairperson.

Quader appointed the leaders in those posts exercising his power bestowed on him in the party’s charter.