Ershad says decision is final; threatens to kill himself if govt tries to arrest him
A day after announcing his decision to boycott the election, Jatiya Party (JP) chairman HM Ershad on Wednesday directed ministers of his party to step down from the poll-time cabinet. He alleged that people were against the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. RAB and police personnel cordoned off his residence soon after Wednesday’s announcement.
“I have asked the JP ministers to resign from the present cabinet. It is not possible to hold a peaceful election in the present circumstances,” he told reporters after an exclusive meeting with the visiting Indian foreign secretary, Sujatha Singh, at his Baridhara President Park residence in the capital.
The former President said: “The decision to boycott the poll is final. I have asked the JP candidates to withdraw their nomination and not put their lives in danger.”
According to Ershad, the opinion of 90 per cent people of the country was against Hasina and it was difficult to hold a peaceful election under the aegis of the sitting government. “The people are not with Sheikh Hasina. Please come out in the open and see the real picture,” he invited the Prime Minister.
Asked about his meeting with the Indian foreign secretary, Ershad replied: “She wanted to know if the Jamaat-Shibir would come to power if we did not participate in the election. I told her that it was not my concern. If the Jamaat- Shibir comes to power, the government would be held responsible for it.”
The meting between Ershad, Sujatha Singh and the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pankaj Sharan, was exclusive. Presidium members, including JP secretary general and civil aviation minister ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, adviser to Prime Minister Zia Uddin Bablu, state minister for sports Mujibul Huq Chunnu and Kazi Firoz Rashid were seen in the reception room during the meeting. The four ministers of the “all-party” election-time government belonging to the Jatiya Party did not turn up at their respective ministries on Wednesday following Ershad’s poll boycott announcement.
Later, Ershad said he would commit suicide if the government tried to arrest him.
He made the threat while talking to newsmen at around 11 pm at the premises of his Baridhara residence.
“I have a pistol loaded with six bullets, and I will shoot myself dead if the government tries to arrest me,” the former president said.
He, however, also observed that if he was arrested his party activists would go on a rampage in protest across the country.
A large number of security personnel cordoned off Ershad’s residence after his announcement to quit the present cabinet. RAB personnel, led by Lt Col Kismat Hayat, entered the residence at about 7 pm and had a meeting with Ershad for 30 minutes. Later, Kismat told the media that RAB had been deployed to ensure security of the Baridhara area as it was a diplomatic zone.
Meanwhile, after a meeting of the presidium of the party, JP Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader told the reporters that the JP ministers would submit their resignation on Thursday.
-With The Independent input
