Rawshan Ershad, wife of HM Ershad and the Jatiya Party’s (JP’s) senior presidium member, is likely to be the Leader of the Opposition in the 10th Parliament.
“The JP lawmakers will join the Parliament, led by Rawshan Ershad. They will play the role of a constructive Opposition, criticising the government constructively. However, we shall obey the decision of JP chief HM Ershad,” Kazi Firoz Rashid, a JP presidium member, told reporters after a meeting with Rawshan Ershad at her Gulshan residence. Six newly elected JP MPs, including Kazi Firoz Rashid, met Rawshan Ershad on Monday to discuss the party’s post-election role in Parliament. HM Ershad, who had contested two seats, lost one in Lalmonirhat to a former Awami League state minister, Motahar Hossain, but retained his home town seat at Rangpur in Sunday’s poll, which was marked by low turnout and violence amidst a boycott by the main Opposition BNP-led 18-Party Alliance.
“Our 33 elected MPs have agreed to elect Rawshan Ershad as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. We will announce it formally soon through a news conference,” announced Kazi Firoz Rashid, MP. Regarding Ershad’s reported detention at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) where he was taken on December 13, Rashid dismissed the claim, saying: “He is not under detention at the CMH. He is undergoing treatment at the hospital and will be back soon after he recovers.”
When contacted, JP secretary general ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader told The Independent that they are yet to decide whether the JP’s MPs would take oath or not.
“We are yet to finalise whether the JP will sit on the Opposition benches as the main Opposition in Parliament. We will do everything as per the decision of our party chairman, HM Ershad,” he added.
JP sources said if Ershad abides by the government’s suggestion, he would be elected Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. Of the 33 elected JP MPs, 20 — including Rawshan Ershad and Anisul Islam Mahmud — were elected unopposed.
Ershad’s younger brother GM Quader failed to win the election from Rangpur, known to be a JP stronghold.
Earlier, on December 3, Ershad had formally announced a boycott of the January 5 national poll, saying that he had directed party candidates to withdraw nomination papers.
Ershad quit the Awami League-led Grand Alliance on November 18, and on the same day, eight Jatiya Party leaders were inducted into the poll-time Cabinet to oversee the Parliamentary polls.
Courtesy of The Independent
