Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad is doing fine and sticks to his previous decision on polls boycott, a party leader has said.
“Ershad is doing fine. He has said he sticks to his decision not to join polls,” Presidium member and Ershad’s younger brother GM Quader said on Friday.
Quader said he had met Ershad at the Combined Military Hospital in the morning.
He said Ershad’s directive to withdraw nominations also stands.
RAB officials said the former military dictator had been taken to hospital, but a Jatiya Party leader claimed on Thursday that he had been ‘detained’.
The elite crime-fighting force had picked up the Jatiya Party chief from his President Park residence in Dhaka’s Baridhara around 11:30pm on Thursday.
However, RAB-1 Commander Kismat Hayat claimed that they were ‘escorting’ him to the Combined Military Hospital because he had been taken ill.
His hospitalisation under ‘RAB escort’ after his dramatic declaration to stay off elections amid strained ties with the Awami League had touched off frenzied speculation.
Ershad announced his party’s boycott of the Jan 5 parliamentary polls, a day after his party leaders filed their nominations.
The party candidates have sent in their withdrawal applications over the past two days.
Quader said the CMH authorities had told him Ershad would be in the hospital for a ‘day or two’.
He said the JP chief hoped all his party candidates would withdraw their nominations by Friday, the last day for doing so.
The commerce minister of the poll-time multi-party government said his party would take action against candidates who failed to withdraw from the poll contest.
On whether a faction of Jatiya Party was joining the polls led by Ershad’s wife Raushan Ershad, Quader said, “Raushan Ershad will make it clear.”
Kazi Zafar Ahmed, the Presidium member who was expelled from the party, recently had said that he had information from credible sources that Ershad would resign his post and Raushan Ershad would be made acting Chairman.
Quader refused to comment when he was asked whether Raushan Ershad was being made the acting chairman since Ershad was in hospital.
Source: Bd news24