Polls alliance: Ershad still undecided

The ruling alliance partner Jatiya Party chairman, HM Ershad, is still undecided over choosing election alliance though the party is likely to launch pre-election mass contact in the next week, party leaders told New Age.
Media reports on Friday said that Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and Ershad had a telephone talk over his joining the BNP-led alliance.
According to the media reports, Ershad told Khaleda Zia that he might join her alliance if she assured him of being elected as the president if the alliance was voted to power.
The leaders of both the parties said that they had no information about the telephone talks.
The acting BNP secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, said that he did not know about any such talks.
He, however, said, ‘Discussions are going on at our levels about the expansion of the alliance.’
The Jatiya Party secretary general, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, also said that he had no information about the reported talks.
He, however, said that as the next general elections were nearing, many developments might take place at any time.
He said, ‘The party chairman has been in Singapore for the last four days. He [Ershad] did not tell me anything about any such conversation.’
‘I will talk to my boss about the matter immediately on his return on Monday,’ he said, adding, ‘Many developments and many changes can take place in politics as the general election is nearing.’
Jatiya Party senior presidium member Kazi Zafar Ahmad also said he had no knowledge about the telephone talks.
The Jatiya Party leader, meanwhile, said that Ershad was still undecided over choosing election alliance though the party was likely to launch pre-election mass contact in the next week.
Influential party leaders said that the party would need to join any alliance to win more seats in the upcoming general election although few others for the past few weeks were saying that they would contest the polls alone without any alliance.
Some of the party leaders have been trying to choose the BNP-led opposition alliance as the party’s election alliance, while some other leaders want to continue as a partner of the Awami League-led alliance in the next election.
Some of the party leaders, however, said that the party would continue with the present ruling alliance at least till the tenure of the government expired as the party chairman was still facing a number of cases.
`Ershad is still facing six cases including radar purchase case and it may be the reason of the party to continue in the ruling alliance until completion of five year tenure of the government,’ said presidium member Sheikh Serajul Islam, also a defence counsel for Ershad.
Ershad’s frequent threats for quitting the ruling alliance are nothing but a tactic to keep pressure on Awami League, he said.
The party secretary general ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader told New Age on Tuesday that the party would launch a pre-election mass contact programme in the next week and it would continue till October.
When asked about the alliance the party would choose, Ruhul Amin said, `Still we are with the grand alliance. Let the election schedule be announced.’
The party senior presidium member Kazi Zafar Ahmad, reportedly having have good connections to BNP, said that the party was getting stronger day by day.
`Now we are busy with launching mass contact programme. Ershad is the final decision-maker,’ he said.
Party insiders said that Kazi Zafar was trying to have an election alliance with BNP.
Presidium member Ziauddin Ahmad Bablu, learnt to have well connections to Awami League, said that till now the party had a plan to contest the election alone without joining any alliance and they were working on finalizing candidates for all the 300 parliamentary constituencies.
Two presidium members hinted that Rawshan Ershad wanted to have alliance with the BNP. But her comments on the matter could not be obtained despite several attempts.