A false claim has been circulating in media suggesting that the Jatiya Party chairman has been elected as the opposition leader of the House, and that his party is set to form the opposition, the party said.
Jatiya Party Press Secretary Khandkar Delwar Jalali said the leader, deputy leader and chief whip of the parliamentary party of the Jatiya Party were elected in the parliament, not the opposition party.
He made the clarification in a press release issued on Thursday.
In the statement, Khandkar Delwar Jalali said: "We have noticed that several media have mentioned Jatiya Party parliamentary party leaders as opposition leaders, deputy leaders and chief whips in their news. Actually, this is wrong and misinformation.”
Only the speaker of the parliament can appoint the opposition leader of the House. There has been no decision taken in this connection so far.
In the recent 12th parliamentary election, the JaPa performed poorly, securing only 11 seats – its worst result since the restoration of democracy in 1991.
In the latest election, the JaPa fielded candidates in 265 seats, but over 200 remained inactive during the campaign.
Awami League won 222 seats while independent candidates came out victorious in 62 constituencies.
Earlier in the day, the Jatiya Party elected the party’s chairman GM Quader as their leader of the parliamentary party in the House.
Besides, the party's Co-Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud has been elected as the deputy leader and General Secretary Mujibul Haque Chunnu as the chief whip of the parliamentary party.
This decision was taken in the parliamentary party meeting of the JaPa held at the office of the deputy leader of the opposition party at the national parliament building in the capital on Thursday. GM Quader presided over the meeting.
The decision of the opposition party leader, deputy leader, opposition party chief whip and opposition party whip nomination will be informed to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
