Jatiya Party presidium member GM Quader on Friday said the party members were determined to withdraw their nomination papers before the deadline as JP Chairman HM Ershad directed them doing so.
He said: “It was Ershad’s order to withdraw the nomination papers and all have to obey it as he is still our party chief.”
He made the statement at a briefing at the residence of the party’s secretary general ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader in the capital’s Gulshan area around 12:45pm on Friday.
Forewarning the party members, he further said: “If Jatiya Party candidates do not withdraw their candidacy from the national election before the deadline, the party will take stern action against them.”
GM Quader, the younger brother of JP Chairman, also criticised the authority concerned for detaining Ershad adding that the way Ershad was taken to the hospital was not natural.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members detained Jatiya Party chief and former president HM Ershad from his President Park residence in the capital’s Baridhara on Thursday night, one day after he applied for nomination withdrawal.
Immediately after the detention the former president was taken to the Combined Medical Hospital (CMH), said sources to Rab.
However, Lt Col Kismat Hayat, commanding officer of Rab-1, denied the detention of the former president and claimed they just had provided security escort to the former president on his way to the hospital after he had fallen sick.
On Wednesday, Jatiya Party Chairman and former autocrat HM Ershad, submitted applications to the Election Commission to withdraw his nomination paper for participating in the 10th parliamentary election.
His application, however, was not received by the Dhaka district returning officer due to an error in the letter’s submission date.