Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has appointed the party Co-Chairman GM Quader and Secretary General ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader as party’s spokespersons, his political secretary said yesterday. In a press release, Sunil Singh Roy said the two leaders would give the JP’s statements, which would be regarded as the JP’s authorised opinions. Barring these two, the stray remarks and statements by any other leader would not be considered as the party’s authorised versions, he added.
Earlier on January 17, the 85-year old Ershad announced the appointment of his younger brother GM Quader as the new co-chairman of the party at a news conference in Rangpur that added a new twist in the simmering discord within the party. It led to immediate reaction, prompting the anti-Ershad elements inside the JP to choose the leader of the opposition in parliament and JP Presidium Member Raushan Ershad to be declared acting chairperson of the party in place of her husband. When Ershad returned to the capital on January 19, his retribution was swift as he relieved Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu as the party secretary general, replacing him with ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader.