Ershad in fire-fighting move

The Jatiya Party (JP) is still being plagued by different factional cross-currents, even after party chairman HM Ershad has made his wife Raushan Ershad the party’s senior co-chairperson. The factions started to appear after Ershad made his younger brother, GM Quader, the party's co-chairman on January 18. According to sources in the JP, Ershad has made his wife Raushan senior co-chairperson just to prevent more cracks from appearing in the party’s rank and file at the JP national council, to be held on May 14.
On January 18, hours after HM Ershad announced his brother's name as the party's co-chairman, a faction of the party removed Ershad from his post and declared Raushan the acting chairperson of the party. The decision, which virtually split the party into two, was taken during a three-hour-long meeting at Raushan Ershad’s Gulshan residence. Months later, on April 27, Ershad announced the name of his wife as senior co-chairperson of the party. “Our chairman has coordinated the party to maintain the chain of command by appointing Raushan as its senior co-chairperson. But he remains the supreme authority,” JP secretary general Ruhul Amin Hawlader told The Independent yesterday.
Raushan Ershad, along with GM Quader, will now run the party in the absence of the party chairman, said Hawlader, adding that they are now working together. “There was a crying need for unity inside the party. The chairman's decision has again instilled confidence in our leaders and activists,” Hawlader said in reply to a query. He said at least 50,000 councillors and delegates are expected to attend the JP national council on May 14. “We hope countless leaders and activists will attend the council venue at the Engineers' Institute. A congenial atmosphere is prevailing inside the party now,” he added.  There will be no foreign guests during the national council, but ambassadors from different embassies in Bangladesh have been invited, Hawlader told The Independent. When contacted, some senior leaders of the party said, on condition of anonymity, that they are still in confusion over the party chairman’s decision. The leaders conceded that they are not convinced by Ershad’s decision, admitting that their chairman may be removed anytime.

Ershad in fire-fighting move

The Jatiya Party (JP) is still being plagued by different factional cross-currents, even after party chairman HM Ershad has made his wife Raushan Ershad the partys senior co-chairperson. The factions started to appear after Ershad made his younger brother, GM Quader, the partys co-chairman on January 18. According to sources in the JP, Ershad has made his wife Raushan senior co-chairperson just to prevent more cracks from appearing in the partys rank and file at the JP national council, to be held on May 14. On January 18, hours after HM Ershad announced his brothers name as the partys co-chairman, a faction of the party removed Ershad from his post and declared Raushan the acting chairperson of the party. The decision, which virtually split the party into two, was taken during a three-hour-long meeting at Raushan Ershads Gulshan residence. Months later, on April 27, Ershad announced the name of his wife as senior co-chairperson of the party. Our chairman has coordinated the party to maintain the chain of command by appointing Raushan as its senior co-chairperson. But he remains the supreme authority, JP secretary general Ruhul Amin Hawlader told The Independent yesterday. Raushan Ershad, along with GM Quader, will now run the party in the absence of the party chairman, said Hawlader, adding that they are now working together. There was a crying need for unity inside the party. The chairmans decision has again instilled confidence in our leaders and activists, Hawlader said in reply to a query. He said at least 50,000 councillors and delegates are expected to attend the JP national council on May 14. We hope countless leaders and activists will attend the council venue at the Engineers Institute. A congenial atmosphere is prevailing inside the party now, he added. There will be no foreign guests during the national council, but ambassadors from different embassies in Bangladesh have been invited, Hawlader told The Independent. When contacted, some senior leaders of the party said, on condition of anonymity, that they are still in confusion over the party chairmans decision. The leaders conceded that they are not convinced by Ershads decision, admitting that their chairman may be removed anytime.