Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad has sought the prime minister’s appointment for holding talks on resignation from the cabinet on Sunday, a day after her husband HM Ershad wished to meet the PM over the same issue.
GM Quader, the newly appointed co-chairman of Jatiya Party, told journalists that both Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and his wife Raushan Ershad have agreed to quit the cabinet after consulting the premier, Sheikh Hasina.
“The party chief and his wife will discuss the issue of resignation from the cabinet with the prime minister. Ershad will also discuss the point of resigning from his position as a special envoy,” he said.
The younger brother of Ershad further said: “I placed the proposal to party chief and he accepted it in order to ensure our role as a true opposition party.”
The party now holds three ministerial posts at the cabinet after the general election of 2014.
Read more: Ershad to sit with PM before quitting as special envoy
Earlier on Saturday, Ershad said that he did not want to quit the post of prime minister’s special envoy without consulting the premier, Sheikh Hasina.
“The prime minister honoured me by appointing as her special envoy. I cannot dishonour her by quitting the post without consulting her. I will certainly talk to her in this regard,” he said during an unscheduled meeting with his party colleagues at Banani.
The former military dictator also said the parliament would be functional if JaPa was strengthened. “It will benefit the government too,” he said, according to a press release.
At a press conference on January 17, Ershad announced his younger brother GM Quader as co-chairman of the party and appointed ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader as secretary general relieving Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu from the post.
On that day, Ershad also requested the premier to relieve him from the post of special envoy and asked the party’s ministers to step down. “The prime minister has gifted us three ministerial posts. But no one can play the role of an opposition party holding the post of a minister,” he added.
Talking to reporters in Chittagong on Friday, Bablu, an MP from Chittagong 9 constituency, claimed that his removal from the position of secretary general was part of a conspiracy. “But the conspiracy is not going to be successful. All members of the party, including Ershad and Rawshan Ershad, are united,” he said.
