Jatiya Party rolls out election manifesto of ‘fortune’ promising prosperity

The Jatiya Party, led by former military ruler HM Ershad, has unveiled an 18-point manifesto aiming to ‘establish good governance and develop democracy’ in Bangladesh.

Ershad’s Special Assistant ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader announced the manifesto, terming it ‘a symbol of fortune’, at the party offices in Dhaka on Friday. Ershad is in Singapore for medical treatment.

The party, often criticised for its ‘dual role’ as the opposition in parliament while having its leaders in the cabinet also from 2014, claims it will bring changes to the executive and the systems of running the country and conducting polls if it gets elected.

The Jatiya Party wants to achieve its goal to ‘establish good governance and develop democracy’ by changing the central governing system to the provincial form of government and establishing a double-layered government structure.

The manifesto pledges to introduce complete Upazila system of local governance, ensure independence of the judiciary, reform the education system, enhance medical facilities and take stringent measures against terrorism. 

Earlier, Ershad had spoken about the 18-point manifesto at the rally of his Sammilito Jatiya Jote alliance on Sept 20.

The present Jatiya Party manifesto entails no major changes but only enlarges on the promises stated in the manifesto it had published before the last general election in 2014.

“The Jatiya Party has announced the fresh manifesto to keep up with the times. It focuses on the next generations and the first half of the century,” Howlader said.

Newly appointed Secretary General Mashiur Rahman Ranga, Senior Co-Chairman Raushon Ershad and Co-Chairman GM Quader could not attend the publication of the manifesto as they were out of Dhaka to run election campaign, Howlader said.

Howlader lost his post of secretary general after the Election Commission declared his nomination for election invalid for default loans. Ershad later appointed him special assistant and gave him the organisational power to run the party in his absence.

“I spoke to the chairman this morning. I’m announcing the manifesto as told by him,” said Howlader.

“We need to do welfare of the people through democracy if we want to see a meaningful democracy. With that goal, the Jatiya Party has announced its 18-point manifesto,” he said.

KEY POINTS IN JATIYA PARTY MANIFESTO:

# Introduction of provincial form of government by elevating the eight divisions into provinces.

# Double-layered structure of government including the central government and the provincial governments and a parliament of 300 seats.

# Decentralisation by shifting at least half of the government offices from Dhaka to the provincial capitals.

# Introducing percentage of votes to determine winners in elections. The Election Commission will be given ‘full independence’.

# Local government will be strengthened by introducing courts at Upazila level and other courts to look into family issues. Upazila chairmen will be the supreme authority in Upazilas.

# Jatiya Party promises an ‘independent judiciary’ within a year.

# Reformation of education system will include scrapping primary and junior secondary certificate exams at grade 5 and grade 8 respectively. Education will be free for women until graduation.

The manifesto also includes the promise to prioritise religious sentiment above all while 30 seats in parliament will be reserved for religious minority groups.