Rift in Jatiya Party deepens as court suspends GM Quader’s authority, revives ousted leadership

A Dhaka court has imposed a temporary injunction on Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader and the party’s Joint Office Secretary Mahmud Alam, barring them from carrying out organisational activities.

The court also ordered the reinstatement of 10 senior leaders Quader had expelled, restoring their primary membership and all their party positions, reports bdnews24.com.

The order was issued on Wednesday by Md Nurul Islam, judge of Dhaka’s First Joint District Court. The bench assistant, Sakhawat Hossain, confirmed the ruling on Thursday.

Plaintiff counsel Abdul Bari said the court prohibited Quader and Alam from exercising their powers until further instruction, and suspended the application of Article 20(1)(a) of the party constitution until the case is resolved.

It also directed that organisational responsibilities be handled based on seniority.

The 10 reinstated leaders include Senior Co-Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud, and Co-Chairmen ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader, Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Office Secretary MA Razzak Khan, and Presidium Members Solaiman Alam Seth (Chattogram), Nazma Akhtar (Feni), Md Zahirul Islam Jahir (Tangail), Mostafa Al Mahmud (Jamalpur), Jasim Uddin (Netrokona), and Arifur Rahman Khan (Gazipur).

On Jun 28, they were removed from all party posts and their names deleted from the official website. In response, the leaders filed a lawsuit on Jul 10, naming Quader and Mahmud Alam among the defendants. Two other respondents were not included in the court order.

According to the petition, Quader’s appointment as party chairman in July 2019 by then-secretary general Moshiur Rahman Ranga violated party rules. The same year, Quader allegedly approved an “illegal” constitution through a party council on Dec 28.

The party had claimed in a press statement that a Jun 25 meeting accused Anisul, Howlader, and Chunnu of breaching party discipline. A subsequent presidium meeting on Jun 28 decided to take disciplinary action, and Quader announced their removal from all positions.

Quader replaced Chunnu with his ally, Presidium Member Shameem Haider Patwary, as secretary general.

The court order marks a new chapter in an escalating power struggle within the Jatiya Party. Senior leaders opposed to Quader, including Anisul and Howlader, have been pushing for a collective leadership model to distance the party from its pro-Awami League image and revive its independent standing.

Quader’s faction had scheduled a party conference on Jun 28 at the China-Bangladesh Convention Centre, but government authorities denied permission.

While Quader suspended the event, Anisul and Howlader moved to organise a parallel conference at the party’s Kakrail office, backed by district leaders and Chunnu.

Efforts were also under way to unite splinter factions and reach out to Rowshan Ershad’s group.

The internal consensus among many grassroots members was that the Jatiya Party must restructure its leadership to remain relevant in the next national election, especially given criticisms of Quader’s role during the previous Awami League administration.

Anisul openly criticised Quader’s concentration of power, saying: “We want to remove dictatorship from the party. If autocracy rules us on the inside, democracy becomes meaningless.”

Quader himself acknowledged the political efforts to sideline him while keeping the party intact.

On Jun 20, he said, “The government wants GM Quader out, but not the party. If we hold a council and submit to the Election Commission, they believe we’ll retain the plough symbol.”

Tensions briefly cooled as both factions retreated from their planned events, but Quader reignited the crisis a week later by enforcing the expulsions that prompted the legal battle.

This is the latest in a long history of Jatiya Party splits since HM Ershad’s fall in 1990. The party fractured again in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2013, and most recently in April 2024 when Rowshan Ershad led a factional breakaway following her husband’s death.