Raushon was ‘unaware’ she was declared Jatiya Party chief, says her political secretary

Her Political Secretary Golam Moshi says she ordered them to find out who issued the notice

Jatiya Party leader Raushon Ershad was “oblivious ” of a notice declaring her chairperson of the party before it was released, her Political Secretary Golam Moshi has said.

Raushon, wife of late party founder and military ruler HM Ershad, ordered them to find out who issued the notice, Moshi said on Tuesday night, hours after it was released in the afternoon.

“It’s not that the decision [to make Raushon the chairperson] was changed later. When we came to know about it, we asked her about it and she said she did not know about the matter. She also asked us to find out who had done this,” said Moshi, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The notice said Raushon, the party’s chief patron and the leader of the opposition in parliament, replaced Chairman GM Quader, brother of Ershad who is currently in India on a three-day visit.

It cited the expiry of the central executive committee's term, ongoing litigations, and the incompetence and “chaotic” management of the party by Quader as the reason.

Moshi said there might be a conspiracy behind the notice or a group of overenthusiastic supporters of Raushon might have issued it.

“We’re holding a meeting. We may issue a rejoinder tomorrow after taking a decision,” he said.

“We think the Jatiya Party is still united although there may be some competition for leadership. Madam Raushon also thinks so.”

“There are rules for making someone chairman. No one can become the chairman as per their wish. We have a charter,” said Moshih.

Mujibul Haque Chunnu, the party's secretary general and a Quader loyalist, questioned the validity of the notification, claiming that many of its signatories, including ABM Ruhul Amin Howladar and Kazi Feroz Rashid, were unaware that their names were attached to it.

"It's fake. They did it by forging signatures. It has no basis."

However, Moshiur Rahman Ranga, the party's former secretary general, called on party members to accept the appointment. "If they don't accept it, they can protest on the streets."

Moshi said the presidium members whose signatures were on the notice and Co-Chairman Syed Abu Hossain Babla did not know about it.

Asked if Quader was contacted, Moshi said: “He is abroad now. People in our party are angry about the matter now. We’re embarrassed.”

The Jatiya Party has been embroiled in a leadership rift following the death of Ershad in 2019.

Quader was named chairman of the Jatiya Party to seemingly honour the “will of Ershad”, who had always been in political discussions, especially during elections, for changing decisions every now and then.

But Raushon vehemently objected to the decision, alleging that the party presidium members had not been consulted before Quader's appointment.

In December 2022, four of the party's co-chairmen and two presidium members called for Raushon to be installed as chairman to guide the party through a “transitional period” amid an impasse triggered by a court case challenging Quader's leadership.

The call was backed by a majority of the party's presidium members and lawmakers.