Abrar Hussain of DOT
Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, recently elected for the Rangpur-3 constituency, took oath yesterday, reported The Daily Star.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath at the parliament around 12:30pm.
“I am proud to be sworn in as the opposition leader,” said Ershad, who went to the Jatiya Sangsad on a wheelchair. After taking oath as lawmaker, the JP chair said he will propose a law to ensure that the opposition chief would get ‘deputy prime minister’ status.
He will also talk to speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in this regard.
Ershad further added he would demand that the deputy speaker of the parliament be chosen from the opposition.
The opposition chief whip should be given the status of deputy minister and more leaders should be nominated from opposition for parliamentary committee president post, he said.
The JP chief was scheduled to take oath on Thursday but was unable to, citing illness. However, 21 other members from his party were sworn in as lawmakers of the 11th parliament on that day.
On Friday, Ershad announced that his party will be the main opposition in parliament with no representation in the new cabinet. He will act as the leader of the opposition while his younger brother and JP Co-Chairman GM Quader as deputy leader of the opposition.
Coincidentally, barely a day after the JP Parliamentary Party decided to join the Awami League-led grand alliance government, HM Ershad came up with a decision that was exactly the opposite.