report in Prothom Alo, June 3, 2023
The rift in Jatiya Party (JaPa) has come to fore again over keeping or removing Mashiur Rahman as opposition chief whip in the parliament. JaPa chairman GM Quader has sent a letter to the speaker on appointing Fakhrul Imam in place of Mashiur.
Meanwhile, the party’s chief patron Raushon Ershad has sent another letter to the speaker urging Mashiur to be kept in the post. The issue has disclosed the rift among the top leadership of JaPa, which is the main opposition party in the parliament.
Earlier a letter was sent asking co-chairman Kazi Feroz Rashid to be made opposition chief whip replacing Mashiur. But the call was not heard.
Sources from JaPa said GM Quader sent the letter to speaker Shireen Sharmin Choudhury on 26 May informing the party’s decision to make Fakhrul Imam their chief whip in parliament. A delegation of JaPa went to the speaker yesterday (Thursday) to appraise her of the letter again. Before that, Raushon on Wednesday wrote a counter letter to the speaker urging her to keep Mashiur Rahman in the post for the rest of the tenure of this parliament.
Mashiur has been in the post of opposition chief whip from the beginning of eleventh national parliament. The fiasco started as he criticized party chief GM Quader amid an internal conflict. Quader removed Mashiur from all the posts of the party on 14 September. Later he issued a letter to the speaker about removing Mashiur and appointing Kazi Feroz Rashid in his place. But that did not happen back then.
JaPa sources said first joint district judge’s court in Dhaka on 30 October issued a temporary injunction order on GM Quader and barred him from taking any political decision regarding the party following a case filed by a JaPa leader. The injunction was in effect when GM Quader sent the letter to the speaker and that’s why Kazi Feroz Rashid was not made opposition chief whip.
Sources said Kazi Feroz Rashid was not interested to take the post due to party’s internal conflict and other reasons. Against this backdrop, a joint meeting of JaPa’s presidium and parliamentary team decided to replace Mashiur with Fakhrul Imam. But Raushon sent a counter letter that was handed over to the speaker by Mashiur himself.
Asked, Mashiur said the leader of opposition determines who would assume the posts such as deputy opposition leader, opposition chief whip and whip. As per the party’s constitution, Raushon Ershad is the chief patron of the party and the chairman would work as per her suggestions.
JaPa secretary general Mujibul Haque, however, told Prothom Alo last night that Raushon has no jurisdiction to decide the matter. This work devolves on the chairman as per the constitution of the party.
He also said Mashiur does not belong to JaPa since the party suspended him. https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/politics/xpmdx6e97d
