GM Quader retains Jatiya Party chairmanship, Raushon becomes chief patron

The Jatiya Party has named HM Ershad’s brother GM Quader as its chairman in its first national council since the death of the founder.

The party appointed Raushon Ershad as its chief patron, a ceremonial post created for the widow of Ershad in the ninth council at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday.

Sheikh Serajul Islam, the chief election commissioner of the council, announced the decisions passed in voice vote with no other contestant.

Quader, who holds the ultimate power in the party as its chairman following its constitution, later announced a decision that Mashiur Rahman Ranga will remain the party’s secretary general.

The party also created the posts of five co-chairmen and eight additional secretaries general from each division, Serajul said. The names will be announced later, he said.

Raushon and her son Rahgir Al Mahi Shad did not attend the council. Leaders said she was sick.

Photos of Raushon, who was the senior co-chairman of the party, were also absent in the banners used in the council. The organisers put only the photos of Ershad and Quader in the banners.

Presidium Member Anisul Islam Mahmud, a staunch opponent of Quader, sat next to the chairman after the council started in the morning.

Expelled secretary general ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader was seated next to Ranga. Presidium members Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Kazi Firoz Rashid, Salma Islam and Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu were also among others onstage.

Quader urged all the leaders and activists to be united and take the party forward together in an apparent reminder that it had been on the brink of a split after Ershad’s death.

Within four days of the party founder's death on July 14, Ranga declared Quader as the party chairman.

Raushon's supporters responded to the announcement by declaring her chairman instead as they accused Quader of defying the party's charter.

The row was eventually settled after the party agreed to hand the chairmanship to Quader while naming Raushon the leader of the opposition in parliament.