Jatiya Party (JP) faction, led by GM Quader and Shameem Haidar Patwary, will meet Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday to present its legal explanation opposing the recognition claim of the Anisul Islam Mahmud–Ruhul Amin Hawlader-led committee.
“We have already sent a letter to the Election Commission outlining our legal position against their claim for recognition. Tomorrow, we will meet the CEC and explain why this committee is illegal,” Barrister Shamim Haider Patwary told UNB on Wednesday.
Patwary, who is the secretary general of GM Quader-led JP’s faction, said a three-to-four-member delegation will meet the CEC in the afternoon. An EC official also confirmed the scheduled meeting.
On August 10, the Anisul-Hawlader group submitted a letter to the EC seeking recognition for their newly elected leadership, just a day after holding what they called the party’s 10th council on August 9.
The council, organised without GM Quader, elected Anisul Islam Mahmud as the JP chairman, Ruhul Amin Hawlader as secretary general, Kazi Firoz Rashid as senior co-chairman, and Mujibul Haque Chunnu as its executive chairman.
Anisul Islam Mahmud told media that the council was held in compliance with due procedure and claimed it represented the “mainstream” of the Jatiya Party.
“We have informed the Election Commission about the council conducted following the procedures. We have held a council for the registered party number 12 (Japa, Pratik Langal),” he said, adding that the decision now rests with the Commission.
Anisul claimed that only their committee has the constitutional right to use the party’s election symbol, the “plough”.
However, the EC’s website still shows GM Quader as the chairman of Jatiya Party and Md Mujibul Haque as its secretary general.
On July 7, GM Quader removed 10 JP senior leaders, including Anisul, Hawlader and Chunnu, and made Shameem Haidar Patwary the party’s secretary general.