Expulsion in morning, opposition leader in afternoon!

I always call the Jatiya party, as ‘Jatiya circus party. The party formed under the autocratic Ershad is a stain in Bangladesh's politics. Jatiya Party, which was born on January 1, 1986 when Ershad was in power, has no ideological character. It is entirely marked by opportunism. The true character of the party, which was born with leaders gathered by the greed for power, was revealed in 1990 with the overthrow of the dictator Ershad in a mass movement. How many times Jatiya Party has broken up since Ershad's fall and how many registered and unregistered organizations there are now called 'Jatiya Party' is a matter of great research. Once again, the national party stands on the brink of disintegration. This time the fight will be taking place between Devar-Bhabi (Brother-in-law Vs Sister-in-law).

Currently, Jatiya Party's chairman is J.M. Kader, the younger brother of Ershad. However, last week, Ershad's wife, Rawshan Ershad, declared herself as the chairman, dismissing J.M. Kader. However, the fun part is that after being expelled in the morning, J.M. Kader has assumed the position of an opposition leader in the National Parliament in the evening. Such a circus is only possible in the Jatiya party. After the January 7th election, internal conflicts within the Jatiya Party have intensified, though such conflicts are not new. This kind of changes are quite familiar in the history of Jatiya Party. Every party has internal conflicts, but such voiced and obvious conflicts are not seen in any party other than the Jatiya Party. The Party was born through a coup, so the issue of coups is always on the minds of the party leaders. They are very fond of coups.

Although the party is the third-largest political party, currently in the Bangladesh National Parliament, the Jatiya Party holds the position of the main opposition party on paper. In the tenth and eleventh parliaments as well, the Jatiya Party was the main opposition party. However, the problem is that people do not believe that the Jatiya Party is the main opposition party in the parliament. In my opinion, the Jatiya Party itself feels ashamed to call themselves the main opposition party. Such a weird opposition party is indeed rare in world history. Since the 2008 election, the Jatiya Party has been a part of the Awami League-led electoral alliance. After the election, the participants in that alliance become the main opposition party.

After the 2014 elections, the Jatiya Party was both in the main opposition party and also in the cabinet. There is no example in the past of being in government and opposition party at the same time. Jatiya Party is fondly called the domesticated opposition party. However, Jatiya party itself has created this. All mainstream political parties of Bangladesh boycotted the 1988 elections. Then ASM Abdur Rab came forward to legitimize Ershad's election by forming a combined opposition party (COP) with 72 parties. Rab was the leader of the opposition party in that election. In the last two parliaments, the opposition party leader was Rawshan Ershad. However, this time, despite her reluctance to contest in the election, J.M. Kader will take the position of the opposition party leader.

No matter how much we criticize, apart from Awami League-BNP, Jatiya Party had some public support. And depending on this public support, the party today is looking for support conveniently from everyone. No one thought that Ershad would get a chance to join politics again in this country after his fall in the face of mass movement on December 6, 1990. But there is no final word in politics. Therefore, Jatiya Party has justified itself in the politics of Bangladesh. First, Ershad came out of prison after colluding with Awami League. After that, the Jatiya Party formed a four-party alliance with BNP and started a movement against the Awami League government. The success of the BNP-Jamaat alliance in the 2001 elections made the Awami League understand that they cannot cope with the BNP alone. So, they became close to the Jatiya Party. Since the 2008 elections, the Jatiya Party has been a member of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance. However, there have always been two factions in the Jatiya Party - one is pro-Awami, the other is anti-Awami. Rowshan Ershad has always been known as pro-Awami.

Ershad tried to take an anti-government stance at various times but could not due to various reasons. Especially before the 2014 elections, Ershad did not want to participate in the elections. He even threatened to kill himself if forced. However, Ershad was kept in CMH in the name of medical treatment and Awami League somehow passed the election that time. Ershad attended the swearing-in ceremony at Bangabhaban directly from CMH. He performed as an advisor to the Prime Minister. Like Ershad, his brother GM Quader also criticized the government at various times.

Even before this election, they tried to withdraw from the election. But in the end, the government brought the Jatiya Party to the elections under the leadership of GM Quader through various strategies. Detractors said that GM Quader decided to participate in the election only after the agreement on his wife Sherifa Quader's seat was confirmed. The problem lies there. Jatiya Party reached an agreement with the government on 26 seats. Awami League removed their candidates from these seats. But independents were in the field. There, 15 people including GM Quader's wife Sherifa Quader were defeated. With only 11 seats, the Jatiya Party has got a chance to sit in the seats of the opposition party in favor of the government.

There was already conflict between them. Rawshan Ershad, along with her son Saad Ershad, and other supporters of Rawshan, did not participate in the election. After the defeat in the elections, that rage increased. Protests were held at the party office against the top leaders for selling the Jatiya Party in exchange for compromise on his wife's seat, embezzling money from the government in exchange for participating in the elections and not standing by the party candidates, etc. Since then, protests, expulsions, counter-expulsions, mass resignations - the Jatiya Party has suffered in various dramas. However, ‘Debor-Bhabi conflict’ (Brother-in-law Vs Sister-in-law) is now a hot topic of discussion in Bangladesh politics.

Until the fall of Ershad, there was only one Jatiya Party. But since the fall of Ershad, the opportunists have spread in different directions. It is impossible for any researcher to keep track of how many times the Jatiya Party has broken up. There are still three Jatiya parties registered with the Election Commission. Jatiya Party-Japa led by GM Quader, Jatiya Party-JP led by Anwar Hossain Manju and Bangladesh Jatiya Party BJP led by Naziur Rahman Manjur's son Andalib Rahman Partha. Apart from this, a Jatiya Party named after the late Kazi Zafar is sometimes heard. Many more have already been lost. However, the emerge of another Jatiya party under the leadership of Rowshan Ershad is only a matter of time.

The Jatiya Party had a big opportunity this time as BNP boycotted the poll. They could have tried themselves and become a real opposition party. However, the Jatiya Party has suffered in two ways to compromise seats with the Awami League. Even after the compromise, only 11 seats left the political future of Jatiya Party uncertain. Not only the seats but also their popularity has reached at the rock bottom. The Jatiya party is indeed synonymous with a circus. The circus is ongoing.

Author: Writer, Head of News, ATN News