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Ershad in sticky stew over polls alliance

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad appears to be in a quandary as the ruling coalition is reportedly pressing him for an electoral alliance with it while most of his party colleagues remain opposed to the idea.
The JP chairman at this time prefers to gloss over the antigovernment sentiment of the party's rank and file, fearing probable repercussions of worsening relations with the government for a dozen cases that are pending against him, said party sources.
But faced with immense pressure both from the government
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and inside the party, the former president has opted to dilly-dally on the issue while closely monitoring the political developments, added the sources.
"As part of the strategy, Ershad has told the press that he will not declare his decision on allying with other political parties for the next election before March 1," a senior member of JP presidium told The Daily Star.
"We hope a lot of changes will take place in the next two months," he added.
"If the anti-government movement gathers momentum by next March, the party will join the opposition campaign. But if the opposition camp fails to do so, then we'd have to wait for some time again," said another senior presidium member seeking anonymity.
Due to government pressure, the JP has already failed to table at the national dialogue with the prime minister its original demand for expulsion of Jamaat-e-Islami from the government and the ruling alliance for having militant links. The JP presidium had decided to include in its written proposals to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia the call for immediate actions against the ministers and lawmakers having militantlinks.
But as the decision was leaked, the prime minister's office (PMO) forced the party to change the proposals at the eleventh hour, reported different national dailies.
The day after the dialogue, the JP chairman however contradicted the news. A presidium member on condition of anonymity told The Daily Star yesterday that the chairman did not have any alternative but to contradict the reports.
After the formal talks on Tuesday, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia held separate meetings with Ershad and Rawshan Ershad. Ershad told reporters that he was happy with the way the discussion progressed.
Meanwhile, it has been widely reported that the government had assured the JP chairman that in the next two months it would relieve him of the cases pending against him.
But sources said the government high-ups are in a dilemma whether to withdraw altogether the cases pending against Ershad. They are not sure whether he will be with the ruling alliance once all the cases against him are withdrawn, BNP sources said.
In view of the prevailing situation in the country as well as the government's attitude towards the party, the JP district-level leaders and most of the presidium members would not like to join the ruling four-party alliance. They were also against attending the dialogue with the prime minister last week, sources said.
JP Presidium members GM Quader and Kazi Firoz Rashid in interviews with different dailies have already accused Jamaat of being the most serious problem for the nation.
As GM Quader spoke relentlessly against joining the dialogue of the prime minister last week, Ershad served a show-cause notice on him under pressure from the government, partyinsiders said.
Quader replied to the notice yesterday and the matter is likely to be solved in a couple of days.
The district leaders on December 5 at a meeting suggested the chairman would better not ally with BNP-Jamaat as, they said, the ruling alliance has lost its acceptability among the public for failing to deliver and is desperate to have JP on board just to clear the hurdle of forthcoming general election. The leaders launched a blistering attack on Jamaat-e-Islami for harbouring the militants.