Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhary administered the oath to him at Jatiya Sansad Bhawan at 12 noon.
Many top leaders of the party say that the election was not fair. This was a government-controlled election. The results were already decided. Again, many believe that the understanding regarding seat sharing between Awami League and JPA was not correct.
The two leaders who were given the responsibility of negotiating seat sharing failed to maintain party interests. Japa was removed from three important seats in Dhaka. GM Quader’s wife Sharifa Quader had contested from one seat and even her deposit was forfeited.
The Jatiya Party had won the last three elections at the mercy of the Awami League. This time too he bargained and was successful in reaching an agreement with Awami League on 26 seats. But while the Awami League withdrew its nominated candidates from these seats, independent candidates remained. This made it difficult for the Jatiya Party to win.
A political party has certain principles, ideals and programmes. The Jatiya Party had long ago abandoned any principles or ideals. There was no initiative to maintain the enthusiasm of the party people or to motivate them.
In the 2008 elections, he became a minister and MP as well as the leader of the opposition on the orders of the Awami League.
The Jatiya Party did not have a sufficient number of members to form the opposition in the new parliament. They have 11 MPs and can get two MPs on seats reserved for women.
There are 62 independent candidates. If they unite and form a group, the Jatiya Party’s dream of becoming the opposition in Parliament will remain a pipe dream.
* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor and poet of Prothom Alo
*This column appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir