Jatiya Party not invited to join dialogue with chief adviser

The Jatiya Party has not been invited to join dialogue with the chief adviser of the interim government with political parties.

Several sources at the government said the Jatiya Party was not called to join today’s dialogue because of the objection from the student leadership of the July-August mass uprising.

The leaders of the Jatiya Party had been longing for an invitation, but they were not called at the end.

Jatiya Party secretary general Mujibul Haque told Prothom Alo on Saturday, “The government might think they do not need the opinions of Jatiya Party, so they did not call us to the dialogue. We have nothing to say about this.”

Chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus held dialogue with several political parties and alliances including Gono Forum, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),  Jatiyatabadi Samomona Jote, Jatiya Mukti Council, Labour Party and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) on Saturday.

On 5 October, the chief adviser held the third phase of dialogue with political parties over reform, elections and contemporary issues.

Five political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jammat-e-Islami and Gano Odhikar Parishad and three alliances including Ganotantra Mancha took part in the dialogue.

The interim government led by Dr Yunus was formed on 8 August after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government by the student-people's movement. At that time, the chief adviser held dialogue with various parties including Jatiya Party.

According to government sources, JaPa was known to be the ally or accomplice of Awami League during the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina. JaPa leaders sometimes became cabinet members and joined the government. The party was even dubbed as a ‘domestic pet’ despite being the opposition in the parliament.

Lastly, the party joined the 7 January election and became the opposition in the 12th parliament. Questions have arisen on the past of JaPa following the fall of the dictator, creating a barrier to the party to get invitation for the dialogue with the chief adviser.

Jatiya Party leaders, however, denied allegations of collaborating with the Awami League rule. They said a section of the party leaders enjoyed the perks throughout the entire period of Awami League rule, and when the JaPa moved to go outside the government’s decision, attempts were made to split the party using that section.

The Jatiya Party secretary general said they have explained on the role that they followed to protect the party from annihilation.