Jatiya Party reverses its decision: MPs-elect to take oath on Wednesday

The party reverses its decision not to join the oath-taking ceremony with others

Jatiya Party supporters campaign in Dhaka

The Jatiya Party will join the swearing-in ceremony for the MPs-elect on Wednesday in a change of heart from an earlier decision to skip taking oath with others.

“The newly elected MPs of the Jatiya Party will take oath tomorrow [Wednesday],” its Office Secretary Mahmud Alam said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the MPs-elect of the party will need to gather at the office of Jatiya Party Chairman and Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament GM Quader in the parliament building by 10am.

Mahmud also said a meeting called for Thursday, as informed by Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu, was cancelled.

Chunnu earlier said their MPs-elect would not take oath on Wednesday. He said they would discuss the matter and take a decision in Thursday’s meeting.

Changing decisions is almost a second nature for the Jatiya Party. Its founder late military ruler HM Ershad was notorious for changing his mind quite often.

The trend continued even after his death as his brother Quader and wife Raushon Ershad, the leader of the opposition in parliament, fought on several occasions for control.

Raushon and his followers did not contest the election in protest against Quader’s decision to leave most of them out of the nomination process.

Now the party’s fate as the opposition in parliament hangs in the balance after it won only 11 of 298 seats in the race despite the BNP boycott and a seat-sharing deal with the Awami League.

The Jatiya Party even lost 15 of the 26 seats ceded by the ruling party after fielding candidates for 265 constituencies.

The winners from the party are: GM Quader from Rangpur-3, Anisul Islam Mahmud from Chattogram-5, ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader from Patuakhali-1, Mujibul Haque Chunnu from Kishoreganj-3, Haiz Uddin Ahmed from Thakurgaon-3, AKM Mostafizur Rahman from Kurigram-1, Shariful Islam Jinnah from Bogura-2, Md Ashrafuzzaman from Satkhira-2, Golam Kibria Tipu from Barishal-3, AKM Salim Osman from Narayanganj-5 and Masud Uddin Chowdhury from Feni-3.

Most of the other candidates lost their deposit because they could not secure one-eighth of the votes.

Independent candidates, mostly rebel leaders of the Awami League, won 62 seats.

Legal experts say that the law permits the independents to form one or more alliances and elect a leader of the opposition in parliament.