You can call it a typical Jatiya Party flip-flop. 

Just a day after the JP Parliamentary Party decided to join the Awami League-led grand alliance government, HM Ershad came up with a decision exactly the opposite.  

The JP chairman said the party will be the main opposition in parliament with no representation in the new cabinet. He will act as the leader of the opposition while his younger brother and JP Co-Chairman GM Quader as deputy leader of the opposition.

Ershad made the sudden announcement through a statement that was sent to different media outlets yesterday, contradicting the decision the Parliamentary Party unanimously took in a meeting on Thursday.

READ MORE: No opposition needed!

"Since we participated in the election under the banner of the Awami League-led grand alliance, we want to join the government. Who will sit on the opposition bench is not our concern," GM Quader told journalists after the meeting.

He also said, "We doubt if people will accept us as the opposition if we quit the grand alliance now to play the role of the opposition.... We don't want to sit on the opposition bench … This is a practical problem for us.”

Twenty-two party leaders, except for Ershad, were present at the meeting. Earlier on Thursday, the JP chief couldn't take oath “due to illness” at a ceremony where the rest 21 were sworn in as lawmakers of the 11th parliament. 

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, several JP lawmakers termed Ershad's decision funny and arbitrary.

“The Jatiya Party Parliamentary Party unanimously decided that the party will remain in the grand alliance government. If the party wants to stay in the opposition, the JP Parliamentary Party will sit again to make a decision in this regard. The party's chairman cannot take the decision arbitrarily. His decision is nothing but funny,” a JP lawmaker told this correspondent, wishing anonymity.

Press release of Jatiya Party (JP) on January 4, 2019.

The JP lawmaker, who is also the party's presidium member, said according to the party charter, the JP Parliamentary Party, not the chairman, can elect the party leader and deputy leader in parliament.

Another lawmaker and JP presidium member said a few party leaders might have misguided Ershad.

“Sir [Ershad] is not in good health as his physical condition deteriorated recently. A few JP leaders took this opportunity to misguide him and persuade him to issue the announcement.

"We took part in the December 30 election under the banner of the AL-led grand alliance. We will have to talk with the partners in the grand alliance if we want to act as the opposition party.

“With 22 seats in parliament, we are not sure whether the government will acknowledge us as the opposition party because at least one-tenth of the total seats are required to be considered as the main opposition party.”

He said with 22 MPs, JP may be considered as an opposition group, not the opposition party. “That's why we first need to talk to the government.”

In his statement, Ershad yesterday said: "As the chairman of the Jatiya Party, I would like to inform the people of the country and party leaders and activists at all levels that Jatiya Party will act as the main opposition party in the 11th parliament."

He further said, "As the chairman of Jatiya Party Parliamentary Party, I'll be the leader of the opposition while party co-chairman Golam Quader deputy opposition leader of the House. No Jatiya Party MP will be there in the cabinet. I urge the Speaker of the House to take necessary steps in this regard."

In the December 30 polls, the AL-led grand alliance secured 288 seats. JP, a key component of the alliance, bagged 22. The BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront managed to win only seven seats while independent candidates got three.

The election in Gaibandha-3 was rescheduled for January 27 following the death of a candidate, and re-polling will take place in three centres in Brahmanbaria-2 on January 9.

The Jatiya Oikyafront has announced that its MPs-elect will not take oath as the alliance rejected the polls results, alleging that the election was rigged by the ruling party.

Against this backdrop, there was a speculation that the JP may sit on the opposition bench.

The JP became the main opposition in the current parliament formed after the 2014 election, which the BNP-led alliance had boycotted.

The JP in that election won 34 seats and its senior leader Raushan Ershad was recognised as the leader of the opposition with the status of a minister. Three JP MPs were also made ministers.

Their dual role has been criticised. The party could not play its due role as the main opposition in parliament in the last five years.

Ershad, known as an unpredictable character in the political arena, has a record of playing mysterious roles.

In the middle of November, he became unreachable for most of the party ranks over several days as he stayed in a house at Gulshan instead of his residence in Baridhara.

In 2006, he went into hiding facing pressure from the then ruling BNP to join its alliance. On December 18 that year, he suddenly appeared at a Paltan Maidan rally organised by the AL, and announced his decision to join the AL-led alliance.

Ershad led his party to remain in the AL-led grand alliance to contest the 9th parliamentary election in 2008, held two years behind the schedule due to the state of emergency declared amid political turmoil.

Before the 10th national election, Ershad announced that the JP would not participate in the election and asked his party's candidates to withdraw their nomination papers.

Giving rise to questions and confusions, he was taken to the CMH from his Baridhara residence on December 12, 2013.

However, a section of JP leaders decided to join the polls. The party chairman was elected as a lawmaker in the January 5 polls in 2014 as he could not withdraw his candidacy from Rangpur-3.

From the CMH, where he had been staying for unknown “illness”, Ershad directly went to the Bangabhaban to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the prime minister and ministers of the new government on January 12, 2014.

On the same day, he was appointed special envoy of the prime minister with the status of a minister. Three of his party lawmakers were inducted into the council of ministers.

In the wake of criticism against his party for being in the opposition and in the cabinet at the same time, Ershad on several occasions in recent years said he would ask the three party men to step down as ministers, paving the way for the JP to emerge as the real opposition. 

Outgoing ministers yesterday expressed hopes that the new cabinet members would play a key role in accelerating the pace of development.

After holding the office for 10 years, outgoing finance minister AMA Muhith said, “I think the change that has been brought is good….It is fine.”

Muhith, who turns 85 this month, smiled as he told reporters that he was glad that he didn't have to leave the post “in disgrace”.

“It is a matter of happiness that no one had to show me the door, I myself took farewell.”

At the commerce ministry, outgoing minister Tofail Ahmed told a farewell ceremony that the new faces in the cabinet were qualified and tested leaders of the Awami League, reports BSS.

“I hope the newly formed cabinet will play a vibrant role in accelerating the ongoing development. Bangladesh will witness new feats of development….” he said.

He urged officials of the commerce ministry to discharge their duties with sincerity and honesty to implement the ongoing development programmes within the next five years.

Addressing a farewell ceremony at the shipping ministry, Shahjahan Khan said, “I will not retire from politics till my last breath. I'll cordially accept any responsibility that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina bestows on me.”

At another event, former health minister Mohammed Nasim hoped that the new cabinet members would gain people's confidence.

Former food minister Qamrul Islam said, “I hope the ongoing development will continue.”

Former social welfare minister Rashed Khan Menon urged officials of the ministry not to neglect the plight of people with disabilities.

Former education minister Nurul Islam Nahid hoped his successor would take the ministry to a new height.

Sheikh Hasina, who is set to take oath today as the prime minister for the third consecutive term, has dropped most of her colleagues in the outgoing cabinet, aiming to inject fresh blood in her new government.

President Abdul Hamid yesterday appointed Hasina as the PM, and upon her advice appointed 46 ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told The Daily Star last night.

Hasina dropped 34 of the 47 ministers, including Awami League bigwigs Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Mohammed Nasim and Matia Chowdhury, to induct 27 new faces and four former ministers in the 47-member council of ministers set to take oath today.

The president of the AL, which won the December 30 election by a landslide, did not include in the new cabinet anyone from her party's electoral allies.

There were six ministers and state ministers -- three from the Jatiya Party and one each from the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Workers Party and Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) -- in the outgoing cabinet.

The new council of ministers will be a single-party one for the first time in 22 years.

Following the restoration of democracy in early 90s, the first BNP-led government was formed only with its lawmakers. After that, all successive cabinets comprised lawmakers of more than one party.

Setting a rare instance, the cabinet secretary at a press briefing at his secretariat office yesterday announced the names and portfolios of the new ministers before their oath-taking.

“The cabinet will start working after the ministers take oath at 3:30pm tomorrow [today] at the Bangabhaban. Once the new cabinet members are sworn in, the previous cabinet will automatically be replaced by the new one,” said Shafiul.

Replying to a question whether there is a possibility of expanding this cabinet, he said, “So far, this one is preliminary and final.”

The new council of ministers has 24 ministers, except for the PM, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers.

Three technocrats have also made it to the cabinet -- Yeafesh Osman, Mustafa Jabbar and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Yeafesh and Jabbar were technocrat ministers also in the outgoing cabinet.

Like in the previous term, Yeafesh will remain as science and technology minister and Jabbar as telecommunications and ICT Minister.

Besides, Abdullah, also AL religious affairs secretary, has been made state minister for religious affairs.

Hasina kept in her hand the Cabinet Division, the public administration ministry, the defence ministry, the Armed Forces Division, the power, energy and mineral resources ministry, and the women and children affairs ministry.

The AL-led grand alliance secured 288 seats -- the AL 257, the JP 22 and others 9 -- in the December 30 election.

The BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront, which got only seven seats, rejected the election results, citing widespread irregularities. It has demanded a fresh election.

On Thursday, Hasina was elected the chief of the AL parliamentary party, paving the way for her to become the PM for a record fourth time.

On the same day, the president invited her to form a new government as she secured confidence of the majority of her party lawmakers.

BIG SHOTS LEFT OUT

Following the death of Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam on Thursday and resignation of four technocrat ministers last month, the size of the council of ministers stood at 48, including the PM, 28 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers.

Of the 28 ministers, Hasina dropped 23. They are AMA Muhith, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Nurul Islam Nahid, Shajahan Khan, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Mazibul Hoque, Mostafizur Rahman, Asaduzzaman Noor, Emaj Uddin Pramanik, Narayan Chandra Chanda, Shamsur Rahman Sharif, Kamrul Islam and AKM Shajahan Kamal.

Only five ministers of the outgoing cabinet got berth in the new one. They are Road Transport and Bridges Minister and AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Mustafa Kamal has been made finance minister while the portfolios of the other four remain unchanged.

Of the 19 state ministers, nine have been left out. They are Mujibul Haque (Chunnu), Mirza Azam, Biren Sikder, Ismat Ara Sadique, Meher Afroz Chumki, Tarana Halim, Muhammad Nazrul Islam, Moshiur Rahman Ranga and Kazi Keramat Ali.

Among eight other state ministers, five were promoted to ministers. They are MA Mannan, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Zahid Maleque and Nuruzzaman Ahmed.

Shahriar Alam, Nasrul Hamid and Zunaid Ahmed Palak will have their existing portfolios.

Two deputy ministers -- Abdullah Al Islam Jacob and Arif Khan Joy -- were also left out of the new cabinet.

Asked about the reasons behind the exclusion of so many senior leaders from the new cabinet, four AL central leaders told The Daily Star yesterday that only the party chief knows about it.

The leaders further said the party president might have made the move to promote young leaders.

NO MEMBERS FROM ALLIES

In the outgoing cabinet, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon was the social welfare minister, JSD (Inu) President Hasanul Haq Inu the information minister and JP (Manju) President Anwar Hossain Manju the water resources minster.

None of them has been included in the new cabinet.

There were also three leaders from HM Ershad-led JP in the outgoing cabinet. But this time, the party decided to be the main opposition in parliament with no representation in the new cabinet.

During the 1996-2001 tenure of the Hasina-led government, two ministers were from parties other than the AL. They were Manju and JSD President ASM Rob.

When the BNP-led alliance formed government in 2001, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia inducted two Jamaat-e-Islami leaders -- Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed -- into her cabinet.

In 2009 when Hasina came to power for the second time, she included JP leader GM Quader and Samyabadi Dal General Secretary Dilip Barua in her cabinet. Inu was made minister later.

Yesterday, two central AL leaders told this newspaper that the council of ministers is likely to be expanded and leaders from the AL's allies will be inducted into it.

The expansion may take place within a couple of weeks, they mentioned.

FIRST TIMERS

Among the 47 members in the new council of ministers, 27 are first timers.

Besides, four of them -- Abdur Razzaque, Dipu Moni, Hasan Mahmud and Begum Monnuzan Sufian-- were members of the Hasina-led cabinet in 2009-2014.

AKM Abdul Momen, brother of outgoing finance minister Muhith, has been made the foreign minister, and SM Rejaul Karim the housing and public works minister. Both of them became lawmakers for the first time through the December 30 polls.

Besides, Zaheed Farooque from Barishal has been made a state minister while AL organising secretaries AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem from Shariatpur and Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury from Chattogram have been made deputy ministers.

All three became MPs for the first time through this election.

MINORITY, WOMEN IN NEW CABINET

Like the outgoing cabinet, the new one will have three members from minority communities.

Sadhan Chandra Majumder from Naogaon-1 has been made the food minister and Swapan Bhattacharya from Jashore-5 the state minister for LGRD and cooperatives.

Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, a lawmaker from Bandarban and state minister for CHT affairs in the outgoing cabinet, has been made minister of the CHT affairs ministry.

Kalpa Ranjan Chakma had held the post during the Hasina-led government's tenure in 1996-2001.

The new cabinet will also have three women members. The number was four in the outgoing cabinet.

Dipu Moni, an MP from Chandpur-3, has been made education minister. She was foreign minister during the AL-led government's tenure in 2009-2014.

Khulna-3 lawmaker Begum Monnuzan Sufian, who was state minister for labour and employment ministry in 2009-2014, has been given the same portfolio this time.

Bagerhat-3 MP Begum Habibun Nahar, wife of Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khalek, has been made deputy minister for environment, forest and climate change.

Hasina kept the women and children affairs ministry in her hand.

Meher Afroz Chumki was the state minister for women and children affairs in the outgoing cabinet.

The ruling Awami League will hold a grand rally in the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan on January 19 to celebrate the party's landslide victory in the December 30 polls.

The programme will start at 2:30pm and AL President Sheikh Hasina will be the chief guest, said a press release.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader called upon all leaders and activists of the party to attend the rally to make it a success.

Besides, Quader will hold a joint meeting with the general secretaries of the AL's different fronts and associate bodies at the party's central office on the Bangabandhu Avenue this morning.

Hasina is going to form the government for the third consecutive term as the AL-led grand alliance secured 288 out of the 298 seats in the national election. The AL itself bagged 257 seats.

On Tuesday, the Election Commission published the election results and issued a gazette notification in this regard.

According to the polls results, HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party secured 22 seats while Workers Party of Bangladesh bagged three, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal two, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh two and Tarikat Federation one.

The BNP got just five seats and the Gonoforum two. Manju-led Jatiya Party (JP) bagged one seat and independent candidates got three.