Jatiyo Party MPs-elect won't take oath tomorrow

Jatiyo Party's newly elected members of parliament are not going to take oath tomorrow (10 January), according to the leaders of the party. 

The party will inform the date for taking oath after the leaders fix a date in a few days, Jatiyo Party presidium member Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury told The Business Standard. 

The party has sent a letter to the Speaker of the parliament seeking time in this regard, he said.

Members of parliament elected in the 12th national election will take oath tomorrow at 10am.

Awami League-backed candidates won 222 seats in 7 January's general elections, while independent candidates — most also belonging to AL — won 62 seats.

Jatiyo Party fielded candidates for 265 seats in the election and won only 11 despite a seat-sharing agreement with the AL for 26 seats. 

The party had 22 seats in the 11th Parliament.

Would have won more seats if election was held properly: GM Quader

Meanwhile, Jatiyo Party Chairman GM Quader said his party would have won more seats if the election was held properly.

"The way the election has been held, the Jatiyo Party was not supposed to get a single seat. The few seats we won prove that we still exist. But if the polls were held properly, we would have won many more [seats]," he told reporters in Rangpur today (9 January).

He further said, "We were on the side of the government as long as it was on the side of the people. 

"Now we don't think that the government is on the side of the people. So we are not on the side of the government."