Tussle in JP over post of opposition leader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader is at loggerheads with Senior Co-chairperson Raushan Ershad over becoming the leader of the opposition in parliament.
Raushan yesterday sent a letter to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, mentioning that Quader was not the party’s chairman, but the acting chairman.
The move came a day after Quader sent another letter to the Speaker, requesting her to appoint him as the leader of the opposition.
Raushan, wife of late JP chairman HM Ershad, said Quader’s letter was “not official” as the issue was not discussed in the JP parliamentary party. She requested the Speaker not to accept Quader’s letter, said party sources.
JP lawmaker Mujibul Haque Chunnu submitted the letter to the Speaker’s office on behalf of Raushan.
Sources said a group of JP presidium members and lawmakers met Raushan, also the deputy leader of the opposition, at her Gulshan home in the capital yesterday.
Raushan told the meeting that she would hold a press conference at her home this morning to clarify her stance on Quader’s letter, said Chunnu, who was present at the meeting.
Party insiders said the dispute over the post of the leader of the opposition caused unease among the supporters of Raushan and Quader.
On Tuesday, five JP lawmakers, led by Kazi Feroz Rashid, submitted Quader’s letter to the Speaker’s office.
The letter claimed that 15 out of the 21 JP lawmakers backed Quader for the post of leader of the opposition.
Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, Chunnu said, “What GM Quader did was not right at all. He cannot send a letter to the Speaker for becoming the opposition leader as the party’s parliamentary party is the only authority to make a decision in this regard.”
He claimed that Raushan has the jurisdiction to convene a meeting of the parliamentary party and to take a decision on picking the leader of the opposition.
Wishing anonymity, another JP lawmaker said, “We all know that the parliamentary party will meet before the Jatiya Sangsad goes into session on September 8 and the issue will be discussed in that forum. I don’t understand why he [Quader] made such a move suddenly.”
The post of the opposition leader fell vacant following the death of Ershad on July 14.
Four days later, JP Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga announced that Quader was made the chairman of the party.
Aggrieved by the move, some senior JP leaders, including Raushan, on July 23 questioned the appointment, saying that it was not made following discussions at the proper forum of the party.Despite repeated attempts, this correspondent could not reach Quader over phone for comments.