Ershad expels, gets 'expelled'

28 November 2013, 18:47 PM

UPDATED 29 November 2013, 11:07 AM

Staff Correspondent

A presidium member is expelling his party chief! Within half an hour of receiving the orders of his removal around 12:30pm yesterday, Kazi Zafar Ahmed issued a counter statement expelling Ershad from the Jatiya Party. Lying in his hospital bed around 3:15pm, Kazi Zafar told The Daily Star that he had sent the “expulsion orders” to Ershad, even asking the JP chairman to stay away from party activities. “Ershad is being expelled as per the party constitution as he kept changing his stance repeatedly,” he said. He added that Ershad could not expel him without holding a meeting of the presidium. Then how could he expel Ershad without a decision of the party presidium? Zafar could not give any satisfactory answer to this question. Earlier in the day, JP Chairman HM Ershad told reporters at a Dhaka hotel, “I have just signed the release order for Kazi Zafar.” Regretting his “contributions” for Kazi Zafar all these years, the former military dictator said, “Nowadays, he [Zafar] is issuing statements against me in newspapers. He no longer belongs to my party.” It could not be known whether Ershad had received Zafar's “orders”. On November 23, Kazi Zafar lambasted Ershad for joining the Awami League-led polls-time government, saying the party chairman was “betraying the nation”. Meeting Zafar the next day, Ershad told the media that he doubted if the presidium member had really made the statement and that “Zafar was like a family member and he had been in the party and will remain in the party.” Zafar yesterday said Ershad at the November 24 meeting promised to cut off ties with the Awami League very soon. But he could not trust the chairman. He added the expulsion order was nothing new to him. The JP boss earlier had expelled him three times and Rowshan Ershad four times. According to party sources, Ershad yesterday morning through two text messages over mobile phone urged Zafar not to make further statements against him and said he was "sorry" for his recent moves. Zafar's orders have no value in the party, the sources said. He is alone at this stage as he is not getting support from the pro-BNP elements in the party. Ershad faced the same reaction from Rowshan in the past when he attempted to expel her, they added.