JaPa hopes to be elected to power: Chunnu

Jatiya Party (JaPa) General Secretary Mujibul Haque Chunnu said today his party is contesting in the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad (JS) polls with hopes of coming to power.

"We hope to be elected to power. Awami League will become the opposition party, we have such a mindset. So why would we not join the elections?" he said while speaking to journalists at the JaPa chairman's political office in Banani on Wednesday (13 December).

"Our only demand is that an environment is ensured that the voters get confidence. We have no other demands," he added.
 
He said as an election strategy, any issue including the topic of seat-sharing can be discussed.

"There is no such thing as 'the end' in politics," the JaPa leader said.

Mujibul Haque Chunnu said, "Last night, we had a long talk with several leaders including the general secretary of Awami League."

"We have discussed a lot about the election, the law and order situation, what will be the role of administration, what will be the role of law enforcement forces, what will be the role of the Election Commission, what will be the role of Awami League," he added.

He also said that the party has not submitted any application to the Election Commission regarding joining the polls under any alliance.

"According to the RPO, if there is to be a grand alliance, then an application has to be made to the Election Commission within a certain time. We have not informed the Election Commission because we decided not to join the polls under any alliance from the beginning," he added. 

Regarding the complaint made by Raushan Ershad to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mujibul Haque Chunnu said, "Raushan Ershad is not a member of the party. She is the chief patron of the party, it is an honorary post, and she has no executive powers"

When asked about Raushan Ershad's call to PM Hasina not to ally with Japa, he said, "I had a personal conversation with her on the telephone. She said that she would collect the form. I said, if you want, I will bring the form to your home. She said she would send someone. We were waiting till 10pm on the last day of submission of nomination papers. Then she said in the press conference that she would not join the elections."

Answering a question of whether there is a division within JaPa, he said that there is no division in the party.