Once a strongman, Ershad now shuttles between home and hospital

An iron man, who had ruled the country for nine years before forced to resign through a strong democratic movement in 1990, Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad is now counting his final days shuttling between home and hospital with his fast falling health.

The 89-year-old army-officer-turned politician became inactive in politics and was hardly seen at any programme since mid-November last year.

The former military ruler has been suffering from various old age complications, including low haemoglobin and liver problems, high bilirubin and serious knee pain.

Apart from poor health condition, party insiders said Ershad is also suffering from mental agony due to family feud over distribution of his assets, nomination of a party successor and inattention by some of his party senior leaders.

Ershad received treatment aboard and at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka at different times over the last eight months.

Taking to UNB, Ershad's press secretary Sunil Shuvo Roy said the JaPa chief got affected by fever on Tuesday night and was taken to the Dhaka CMH on Wednesday morning as his condition deteriorated.

He said Ershad was admitted to the same hospital earlier on 22 June.

“Our chairman now often needs to visit the CMH as his condition is unstable.”

JaPa acting chairman and Ershad's younger brother GM Quader said his brother’s health condition has improved much by the time.

“Physicians said his condition improved 40 per cent in the last two days. They, however, said they still didn’t receive some of his medical test reports.”

Asked whether there is any possibility to send Ershad abroad for better treatment, Quader said they are still not thinking about it.

“My brother told me that he has confidence in the treatment of the CMH physicians, and he’s willing to receive treatment there,” he said.

JaPa secretary general Moshiur Rahman Ranga said their ailing chairman’s condition is not stable enough to send him abroad for better treatment.

“If his condition improves, we’ll take an initiative to take him out of the country for treatment.”

Another Jatiya Party leader, wishing anonymity said, Ershad has long been very sick and unable to walk and speak up clearly.

He said Ershad's wife Raushan Ershad has been maintaining a distance with her ailing husband since she is unhappy as he made GM Quader JaPa successor and donated his most of his assets to a trust.

“Our chairman is also unhappy over the behaviours of some other of his relatives.”

Besides, the Jatiya Party leader said some party influential leaders, who are loyal to Raushan, are also avoiding Ershad. They hardly visit him.

However, Raushan Ershad visited her husband at the CMH on Thursday along with some other relatives.

Ershad's declining health condition came to the spotlight as he was admitted to the CMH on 27 November last year, before the 11th parliamentary elections. On 10 December, he went to Singapore for treatment and returned home on 26 December, four days before the elections.

Ershad again went to Singapore on 20 January for treatment and returned home on 4 February.

The Jatiya Party, which joined the 11th parliamentary elections as the key partner of the ruling Awami League-led Grand Alliance, bagged 22 seats and Ershad was elected MP from Rangpur-3 constituency.

Fight to have brother as successor

Raushan had reportedly established her control over the party before the 10th parliamentary elections in 2013 taking a stance against Ershad's decision of boycotting the polls, and subsequently was elected as the Leader of the Opposition in parliament then.

But Ershad regained his control over the party before the 11th general elections held on 30 December and became the Leader of the Opposition in the current parliament.

He had also picked his brother Quader to run the party in his absence on 1 January and appointed him as the deputy leader of opposition three days later.

In a similar bid on 18 January 2016, the JaPa chairman tried to make Quader as his successor by making him as party co-chairman which was foiled by the leaders close to Raushan.

Amid strong resentment in the party, Ershad removed Quader from the post of the deputy opposition leader on 23March, nominating his wife Raushan for the post.

The maverick former military strongman, known for frequently changing his decisions, Ershad reinstated his younger brother GM Quader as party chairman in his absence on 6 April.

A day after nominating Quader his party successor, the JaPa chief donated his all assets to a trust, fuelling the family feud further.

Rise and fall

Born on 1 February 1930 in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal in India, Ershad, the then army chief, took over the state power from president Abdus Sattar on 24 March 1982, introducing the martial law.

He formed 'Jatiya Party' in 1986 and was elected president the same year, triggering huge protests by other political parties.

Amid a fierce combined movement by the opposition parties, Ershad was finally forced to step down on 6 December 1990.

He was later accused of corruption as well as other offences, and put behind bars for years.

After six years of confinement, Ershad was released from jail on bail on 9 January 1997.