Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on Monday stated his party would not participate in the elections unless all political parties took part, referring to BNP's threat to boycott elections.
The JP chairman said: “We have said it before and are saying again that we will not participate in the election if Sheikh Hasina heads the interim government.” In that situation, the election would not be free and fair, he said.
He made this statement at a press conference organised at the Jatiya Party office in the capital’s Banani, protesting the “misleading” media reports about the meeting between a Jatiya Party delegation and the prime minister with her Awami League representatives on October 20.
He claimed it was merely media rumour that he had agreed to participate on the next general elections. and urged the media to bring out the “truth.”
Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told the media that at the meeting, Jatiya Party had agreed to participate in the upcoming polls as part of the AL-led grand alliance.
Ershad said Ashraf's claim had surprised him, and that it was “untrue, baseless, and unfortunate,”
