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03:15 PM, January 02, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 04:37 PM, January 02, 2019

JP to announce its role in JS tomorrow

Jatiya Party Co-Chairman GM Quader briefs reporters on Wednesday, January 2, 2018. Photo: Collected

Jatiya Party, a key component of Awami League-led 14-Party Grand Alliance, will announce tomorrow whether they will remain as the opposition or be part of the government.

JP Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga said this while addressing journalists after a joint meeting with the part’s presidium members and newly elected MPs in Dhaka this morning.

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The meeting was attended by JP presidium members, newly-elected MPs, party insiders said.

Notably, JP, which played the role of opposition in the last parliament, yesterday expressed dissatisfaction over the outcome of the 11th parliamentary election held on Sunday.

Reflecting on it, Ranga said, “The party expected to win more than 22 seats in the election."

THE ELECTION RESULT

The Awami League-led Grand Alliance secured a landslide victory in the national election held on Sunday, December 30, winning in 288 out of 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad.

HOW WAS THE ELECTION?

Voting for the 11th parliamentary election ended peacefully in Dhaka; but was tainted with violence elsewhere across the country and cost the lives of at least 19 people.

Reports of casualties came in from Cumilla, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar, Bogura, Noakhali, Narsingdi and Gazipur.

Allegations of vote rigging, election clashes, intimidation and irregularities came in from several other constituencies and capital Dhaka city.

Also, the election saw opposition candidates boycotting elections in at least 43 constituencies; 42 of who were Jatiya Oikyafront runners.

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Voting in Rangpur City Corporation elections began this morning using electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The voting started at 229 polling centres at 8:30am, which is scheduled to continue till 4:30pm.

Voters standing in queue at Alamnagar Collegepara Government Primary School on December 27, 2022. Photo: Kongkon Karmaker

This is the third election since the city corporation was formed in 2012.

Due to cold weather and fog, the voter turnout at the Mahiganj upazila's polling centres were low in the beginning.

Photo: Star

As the day progressed, the presence of voters outside the Mahiganj Government Primary School and Mahiganj College centres of ward-29 started to increase.

Mofazzal Hossain, 70, a voter at Mahiganj College, told The Daily Star that there was no problem in casting his vote using the EVM machine.

Salma Begum, 44, a voter at Mahiganj Government Primary School, said she cast her vote early in the day. "It was a bit challenging for me to come to the polling station because of cold and fog," she added.

She also said she didn't face any problem while casting her vote using EVM machine.

The Awami League nominee for mayor is Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia while the JP nominee is Mostafizar Rahman, who was also elected mayor in 2017.

The total number of voters in Rangpur City Corporation is 4,26,470.

Rangpur is known as a JP stronghold and the Rangpur JP General Secretary SM Yasir is one of the key campaigners for Mostafizar.

Rangpur City Corporation election
Read more

Rangpur City Helm: AL, JP battling it out today

The Election Commission on Sunday said there were concerns over violence at 86 of the 229 polling centres. Additional law enforcers have been deployed at those centres, said Election Commissioner Begum Rashida Sultana earlier.

Members of police, Bangladesh Border Guard, Rab and Armed Police Battalion (APBn) have been deployed to maintain law and order.

Besides, 33 executive magistrates and 16 judicial magistrates have been deployed to take legal action against rule violators.

Apart from AL and JP nominees, seven others are running for mayor. AL leader Latifur Rahman is running as an independent candidate.

The BNP boycotted the election.

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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. 

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Jatiya Party Chief Patron Raushan Ershad today declared herself the chairman of the opposition party amid incumbent Chairman GM Quader's ongoing three-day visit to India.

The development was communicated through a press release on two Whatsapp groups where news relating to Jatiya Party is disemminated.

The Daily Star has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the press release, which was apparently signed by Raushan, chief patron of Jatiya Party and leader of the opposition in parliament. 

According to the press release, Raushan said she took charge of this post as per the advice and decision of the party's senior leaders and to bring pace in the party's activities.

Jatiya Party insiders said four co-chairmen wrote to Raushan last December expressing their lack of confidence in GM Quader and saying he was ineligible to perform the role of chairman.

At the time, Raushan did not sign the letter because she wanted to give Quader more time, the insiders said.

But this morning, she signed the letter and declared herself the chairman of the party, they said.

According to the press release, the four co-chairmen are: Ruhul Amin Hawlader, and lawmakers Kazi Firoz Rashid, Salma Islam and Abu Hossain Babla.

The development comes three days after she met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Gono Bhaban.

The party's new council has also been announced, and Raushan will perform her duties as chairman till the next council, according to the press release. 

GM Quader is scheduled to return to the country today.

 

 

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The Jatiya Party suffered a debacle in yesterday's national polls as it won only 11 seats, sources at the party chairman's office said.

This is the party's worst polls results since the restoration of democracy in the country in 1991 following the fall of late president HM Ershad.

In the 1991 polls, the JP vied for 221 seats and won 35.

In the 1996 and 2001 polls, the party bagged 32 and 14 seats respectively. The JP participated in the 2008 polls under the Awami League-led grand alliance and won 27 seats.

"We always feared we might be sacrificed after being drawn into the race, and a real one-party rule would be established ...."

— GM Quader Chairman, Jatiya Party

In the lopsided polls in 2014, 34 JP candidates became victorious. In 2018, the party secured 22 seats running in the election under the AL-led grand alliance.

Yesterday's 11 winners are Hafiz Uddin Ahmed (Thakurgaon-3), GM Quader (Rangpur-3), AKM Mostafizur Rahman (Kurigram-1), Shariful Islam Jinnah (Bogura-2), Ashrafuzzaman (Satkhira-2), Ruhul Amin Hawlader (Patuakhali-1), Golam Kibria Tipu (Barishal-3), Mujibul Haque Chunnu (Kishoreganj-3), AKM Salim Osman (Narayanganj-5), Masud Uddin Chowdhury (Feni-3), and Anisul Islam Mahmud (Chattogram-5), JP Joint Office Secretary Mahmud Alam told The Daily Star.

The JP fielded candidates in 265 constituencies this time. But around 230 party nominees had been largely inactive in campaigning, party insiders said.

After hectic discussions between senior leaders of the AL and the JP, the ruling party left 26 seats for the JP.All the 11 winners contested in those shared constituencies.

Meanwhile, JP Chairman GM Quader yesterday said, "We always feared we might be sacrificed after being drawn into the race, and a real one-party rule would be established ...."

 It will be clear in the afternoon whether our concern is justified.

"As we have joined the electoral race, there is no scope for boycotting right now. We have to announce programmes after seeing the polls results," he said replying to a query from a journalist after overseeing voting in Rangpur-3.

JP presidium member Sherifa Quader, wife of Quader, lost the polls to Dhaka-18. Among the other party candidates who lost the elections include Shamim Haider Patwary from Gaibandha-1 and Fakhrul Imam from Mymensingh-8.

Yesterday, 11 JP candidates withdrew halfway through the election alleging widespread irregularities, including stuffing of ballots and capturing of polling centres, in their respective constituencies.

In the around 10 previous days, a total of 31 JP picks formally announced withdrawal from the race alleging that the polls would be one-sided and would not be free and fair, said JP Joint Office Secretary Mahmud.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Rejaul Razi Swapan Chowdhury, JP nominee for Thakurgaon-1, alleged that supporters of the AL candidate captured almost all polling centres in his constituency with the help of local administration and police.

"My polling agents were driven out of different voting centres by the Awami League candidate's men.

"I visited many polling centres and found the allegations to be true. Around 2:00pm, I announced quitting the election protesting vote-rigging," he said.

Mohammad Ali and several other JP candidates echoed Rejaul's allegations.

The 11 candidates who quit the polls raceyesterday are Rejaul Razi Swapan Chowdhury (Thakurgaon-1), Md Delowar (Lalmonirhat-2), Johurul Haq (Jashore-4), Mohammad Ali (Tangail-1), Enayet Hossain (Mymensingh-2), Mir Shamsul Alam Lipton (Jamalpur-3), ANM Rafiqul Islam Selim (Narsingdi-2), Alamgir Sikdar Loton (Narayanganj-2), Yahiya Chowdhury (Sylhet-2), Sazzad Rashid (Chandpur-4) and Nurul Amin Sikdar Vhuttu (Cox's Bazar-4).

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Both the ruling Awami League and opposition Jatiya Party said they would win the Rangpur City Corporation election today.

This is the third election since the city corporation was formed in 2012.

As leaders of both parties warned of building strong resistance against irregularities, some expressed concerns over violence during polls. An election commission official on Sunday said violence was likely in one-third of the 229 polling centres.

The AL nominee for mayor is Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia while the JP nominee is Mostafizar Rahman, who was also elected mayor in 2017.

Rangpur is known as a JP stronghold and the Rangpur JP General Secretary SM Yasir is one of the key campaigners for Mostafizar.

"We are ahead in the electoral race. Everything is still in favour of our nominee. We have got assurance from different government agencies that they will act impartially on the day of polling," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

"Large numbers of our partymen will be present near the polling centres. They will resist all sorts of irregularities. No one will be allowed to use muscle power," he added.

On the other hand, Rangpur AL General Secretary Tushar Kanti Mandol, said, "We hope that people will vote for us to continue the government's development programmes.

"We want favour from neither the law enforcers nor from any other government agencies. Our nominee will win, if the election is fair.

"But, we, the Awami League men, will resist chaos and irregularities with iron hands."

The Election Commission on Sunday said there were concerns over violence at 86 of the 229 polling centres.

Additional law enforcers will be deployed at those centres, said Election Commissioner Begum Rashida Sultana.

"We will closely monitor all the centres through CCTV cameras. Voting will be suspended, if any irregularity takes pace. We want fair elections," she told journalists at her office in the capital yesterday.

Members of police, Bangladesh Border Guard, Rab and Armed Police Battalion (APBn) will be deployed to maintain law and order, said EC officials.

Besides, 33 executive magistrates and 16 judicial magistrates will be deployed to take legal actions against rule violators.

The returning officer yesterday directed the election officers to perform their duties with honesty and efficiency.

"Stern action will be taken against those involved in irregularities," said Returning Officer Abdul Baten who will oversee the election.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Nurealam Mina directed police to take measures against violence and irregularities.

The authorities distributed election materials to the officials at Rangpur Police Lines yesterday morning.

Voting will be held using electronic voting machines. The polling centres will be covered by CCTV cameras from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

On Sunday, JP nominee Mostafizar said many voters were not familiar with EVMs.

Apart from AL and JP nominees, seven others are running for mayor. AL leader Latifur Rahman is running as an independent.

The BNP boycotted the election.

No major incident of violence or violation of the code of conduct was reported during the 17-day electioneering that ended on Sunday.

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