Amidst calls to ban the Awami League and Jatiya Party, BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy on Monday stated that it is ultimately up to people to determine whom to accept or reject, through a transparent national election. Speaking at a discussion, he expressed that restoring democracy will serve as a form of retribution for those who have undermined it. “We have been asked to clarify BNP's stance on banning the Awami League and Jatiya Party. Why should the BNP need to clarify its position on this issue?” Gayeshwar questioned. He added that both the people of Bangladesh and the BNP desire the interim government to quickly hold the national election. “People will decide who should be rejected and who should be accepted through the election. So, any imprudent decision will not bring welfare or peace to the country,” he stated. BNP delegation set visit China at Chinese Communist Party’s invitation The Swadhinata Forum, a pro-BNP platform, organised the programme at the Jatiya Press Club to commemorate National Revolution and Solidarity Day on November 7. Gayeshwar, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, said that the term ‘reform’ became stigmatised during the 1/11 political changeover due to ulterior motives. He said that while there is widespread support for necessary state reforms, attempts to consolidate power by banning a political party or promoting depoliticisation will not serve the nation’s interests. BNP announces 10-day prog to observe ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’ “Those who deserve banning have, in effect, banned themselves and departed from the country; now there is no one to raise their banner or slogans,” he asserted. The BNP leader said political parties should not engage in retribution against each other. “We are fighting for democracy, and the restoration of democracy is the means of taking that revenge on (the Awami League).” He also mentioned that Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country due to her long history of disregarding the law. “After her downfall, how could she abide by the law? If she were not afraid of the law, she would not have left the country; she would have stayed in jail.”

Jatiya Party has postponed its rally in front of its central office in Kakrail tomorrow due to a ban on gatherings imposed by the DMP in the area. The party announced the decision in a statement issued on Friday night, signed by Khandaker Delwar Jalali, JP chief’s press secretary. DMP bans rallies in Dhaka's Kakrail, surrounding areas tomorrow  In the statement, the Jatiya Party said that it will announce further programmes at a later date. “Jatiya Party made this decision respecting the law as Dhaka Metropolitan Police imposed a ban on all meetings, rallies, processions, marches, and demonstrations in Kakrail and surrounding areas on Saturday,” it said in the statement. Earlier on the day the DMP banned all types of public gathering in the capital's Kakrail and surrounding areas hours after Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader said the previously scheduled rally would go ahead as planned tomorrow, despite yesterday’s attack. “We’ll see how far they’ll go to stop us”: GM Quader On Thursday evening, unidentified miscreants set fire to the Jatiya Party (JP) central office in Dhaka's Kakrail area. According to eyewitnesses, a group of individuals—many wearing helmets and armed with sticks—entered the JP office through the main entrance. Chanting slogans, they tore down banners and festoons, vandalized furniture, and then set fire to the building's front and several rooms inside.  

Students on Tuesday staged demonstration early Tuesday protesting the decision of Jatiya Party that had declared Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, top two key coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, ‘persona no grata’ in Rangpur. The agitated students brought out a procession from the Medical intersection of the city around 3:30 am and ended at the same point after parading different streets including Shaheed Mukhter Elahi Chattar and Check-post. Wrongdoers must be tried: Sarjis Alam The protesters were also found chanting different slogans. Later, they held a rally where the representatives of the student movement were present. During the rally, the speakers threatened to build resistance against the Jatiya Party if the party did not seek apology immediately. They also said the Jatiya Party has no jurisdiction to declare Sarjis and Hasnat as persona non grata. Earlier, Co-Chairman of Jatiya Party and former mayor of Rangpur City Corporation, Md Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa declared them as ‘persona non grata’ in Rangpur until they withdraw their statement about Jatiya Party.  

The main opposition Jatiya Party lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud on Tuesday (February 13, 2024) demanded the government of Bangladesh put an end to the loan default culture to save the country’s economy. “In this situation, we need to stop the culture of wilful loan default,” he said. Anisul Islam, a veteran parliamentarian and the deputy leader of the opposition, placed the demand in the House, taking the floor on a point of order. Citing a newspaper story, he said the banking sector's defaulted loans soared by over 20 percent to Tk 145,633 crore in 2023 as both governance and accountability continue to get looser. 98 percent of the country's demand for medicine is produced locally: Health Minister “Whenever this issue is being discussed, we are told that Bangladesh Bank and other banks are taking measures to reduce this (defaulted loans). But we never see that defaulted loans are declining, rather it is going higher,” he said. The Jatiya Party MP said the amount of defaulted loans was Tk 28,000 crore as of 2008. The number of defaulted loans has increased to Tk 1.45 lac crore since 2008 to as of today which is very alarming. He said there is a cash crisis and a dollar crisis in the banking sector. Some strong measures have been taken to tackle this situation. With Pahela Falgun-Valentine’s Day, the nation eyes a festive February 14 Anisul said Bangladesh Bank (BB) is telling that they want to reduce the amount of defaulted loans from existing nine percent to eight percent of total outstanding loans.   “But their (BB) track record says that they will not do so,” he continued. The opposition lawmaker requested the Finance Minister to give importance to stopping the loan default culture. “The issue of loan default culture has been discussed in parliament so many times. But nothing has happened,” he added. Govt okays project to provide freelancing training to youths in 48 districts

Ghulam Muhammad Quader, chairman of the Jatiya Party, said that his party has been a victim of various conspiracies for a long time. "Jatiya Party has been subjected to various conspiracies at various times since leaving power in1991," he was talking to media persons at his Senpara residence in Rangpur city on Saturday afternoon. Opposition will not leave streets until democracy is restored: BNP He said that the Jatiya Party's founding chairman Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a very popular leader. But his rivals had tried to undermine his popularity in various ways. GM Quader also ruled out the possibility of the party division that is being talked about now. Govt considering framework to hold those spreading disinformation accountable: Info State Minister Regarding the opposition party,  GM Quader said the Awami League and the Jatiya party are two major parties in the parliament. "As we (Jatiya Party) are the only party with 11 members, we hope Jatiya Party will be the opposition party in the parliament. If it doesn't happen, we will be the only party to criticize the government for the welfare of the country and people," he added. He said we were the opposition party in the last Parliament. We have always played the role of the opposition party for the welfare of the country criticizing the government constructively and highlighted irregularities and corruption along with our recommendations. "And we will do the same things as before." JaPa trainwreck: Dhaka North committee 'abolished', two leaders expelled Among others, presidium member of the party and Rangpur City Corporation Mayor Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa and other leaders were also present.

The oath-taking ceremony of the elected members of the 12th Parliament will be held tomorrow (January 10, 2024). According to sources at the Speaker's office, the Parliament Secretariat is making preparations for the oath-taking ceremony. Read more: Envoys of Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and others congratulate PM Hasina Awami League (AL)-backed candidates won 222 seats in Sunday's general election, while independent candidates -- most also belonging to AL -- won 62 seats. Jatiya Party candidates were victorious in 11 seats and three single candidates each from three parties -- Bangladesh Workers’ Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod and Bangladesh Kalyan Party -- secured victory in their respective constituencies. Read more: Wait to know who will be the opposition: Anisul Huq

Jatiya Party (JaPa) chairman GM Quader's wife Sherifa Quader has stumbled in the race of 12th parliamentary election held on January 7. Sherifa, who competed with Jatiya Party's electoral symbol " plough " lost to independent candidate Md Khasru Chowdhury in the Dhaka-18 constituency. 12th JS Election: AL romps home amid low turnout in peaceful but predictable polls Independent candidate Khasru bagged 79,085 votes with the 'kettle' symbol, while his nearest rival independent candidate Tofazzal Hossain with the 'truck' symbol got 44,909 votes. Former JaPa sec general Mashiur Rahman defeated by independent candidate JP's Sherifa got only 6,429 votes with the 'plough' symbol. As a result, she has lost her security deposit in the election. Tipu Munshi wins Rangpur-4 Earlier, Awami League gave up this seat to Jatiya Party as its political allies.

Two of the three parliamentary seats were won by Awami League’s candidates in Thakurgaon and one by Jatiya Party's ‘plough’ in the 12th parliamentary elections. Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan elected by 140,000 Magura-I constituency Ramesh Chandra Sen and Mazharul Islam Sujan from Awami League won in Thakurgaon-1 and Thakurgaon-2 respectively while Hafizuddin Ahmed from Jatiya Party in Thakurgaon-3. Hasina wins Gopalganj-3

Jatiya Party (JaPa) candidate for Chuadanga-1 constituency, Advocate Sohrab Hossain, has withdrawn his candidacy from the 12th parliamentary election race, alleging lack of cooperation from his party and coordination. He is the president of Chuadanga district unit of Jatiya Party. Expressing frustration, the Jatiya Party leader said, “You know how this year's voting is going to be held. Our party chairman and secretary general do not communicate with us. They just left us after giving nominations.” Sohrab Hossain also alleged that the party is not providing any expenses for the election. Read: Habiganj-2: JaPa candidate withdraws from election citing 'lack of fair environment' “They are busy with the 26 who are there. And 257 of us are ignored. This year's election is different. No one talks without money,” he added. Saying that the "boat" and independent candidates are spending crores, the Jatiya Party leader said, “I spent as much as I had. Now I can't afford it anymore. So I stepped aside.” In the 12th parliamentary election, 15 candidates are contesting for two seats in Chuadanga. Of them, six are contesting in Chuadanga-1 constituency. Read: Mahi’s election camp torched: UP chairman among 5 sued

Jatiya Party’s Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu, MP, has said there is no division within the party and it remains unified under party Chairman GM Quader’s leadership. Chunnu said that Rowshan Ershad is a significant figure for them, serving as the chief patron of  the party and a symbol of respect. He affirmed the party's full support if she decides to contest, promising assistance in every possible way, according to a press release signed by the party chairman’s Press Secretary Khandaker Delwar Jalali on Thursday. AL finalises candidates for 72 constituencies in Rajshahi, Rangpur divisions “The Jatiya Party is going to the polls as per the party's decision,” he told reporters at the Jatiya Party chairman’s office in Banani. “We wanted an atmosphere of fair voting. The Election Commission and various sections of the government have assured us that the election will be fair. They have said the election environment will be free at any cost,” he said. BNP, Jamaat, like-minded parties threaten to resist lopsided polls  Chunnu said that the ruling party and the Election Commission promised that voters would be able to come to the polling stations and cast their votes freely. “It is because of this assurance that the announcement of our participation in the election has been delayed,” he said. Replying to a question, Chunnu said the party will contest in all 300 seats with its own symbol. BNP to enforce another spell of 48-hour blockade from Sunday “Because we have not written to the Election Commission to join any alliance. There are different strategies in politics. We will move forward with our own strategy.”