AL's reform demand a pretext not to go to polls
Says Ershad
Staff Correspondent
Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said the demand for reforming the caretaker government system is just a pretext of Awami League (AL) for not going to participate in the next parliamentary election."Awami League will not be able to come to power if Jatiya Party goes to another side. That is why it (AL) now wants to save its prestige by boycotting the election on the plea of caretaker government reform," he noted. Addressing a conference of Jatiya Jubo Sanghati, youth front of JP, at a city hotel, Ershad also criticised AL for rejecting the budget without joining parliament. The JP chairman said any of the two major political parties [AL and BNP] can win the next election with the support of Jatiya Party. "In the last election, the four-party alliance secured 47 percent votes and Awami League 40 percent. And Jatiya Party obtained eight percent," he explained and claimed that his party has gained more public support in the last few years. "This is the last election for Jatiya Party to go to power," Ershad said. "We must share the power and go to power," he added. About his estranged wife Bidisha, the former president said, "She was a curse on the Jatiya Party. Now we are free. Every member of the party is now happy." "If you find your wife takes a passport showing another man as her husband, how do you tolerate it?" said the JP chairman. He also said, "If I file a defamation suit against the woman [Bidisha] for filing a false GD (general diary) against me, she will definitely be arrested." Ershad also blasted newspapers for making propaganda against him on the issue of Bidisha although he has shown the reasons for the divorce. About the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), the JP chairman said he has no question about its activities as a sense of security has been prevailing in the country. But he commented that Rab is not a permanent solution to tackle crime. Ershad urged the government to look into the price hike of essentials. JP presidium members Kazi Zafar Ahmed, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, Abu Sufian, Golam Kibria Tipu, Mostafa Jamal Haider, Syed Abu Hossain Babla, Khandokar Mahtab Uddin and Jubo Sanghati Convenor Humayan Kabir also spoke in the conference. The representatives of Jubo Sanghati from different districts joined the meeting.
| 
