“We’ll float another grand alliance. Many parties are contacting me. Islamic parties have formed a grand alliance. They may join us through discussions,” he said.
Ershad was speaking at the launching ceremony of Jatiya Islami Mohajote, a new political platform of 34 Islamic parties.
He said, “We’re now the opposition party and we’re no longer there in the Grand Alliance. We’re now trying to form a separate grand alliance. We want to constitute an alliance with those who believe in the spirit of the Liberation War, Islamic values and Bangladeshi nationalism.”
He said peace will not be restored and the nation will not get rid of enforced disappearances, killings and injustices if Islamic values are not established in society.
Ershad, also a former military dictator, called upon the Islamic parties to be vocal against militancy.
Although Ershad’s Jatiya Party is now the ‘opposition’ in the Bangladesh parliament, its three leaders are also ministers in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet.
Jatiya Party has lost so much of credibility that both Chinese President Xi Jingpin and US Secretary of State John Kerry during their visits to Dhaka last year refused to meet Jatiya Party, the leader of the opposition in the parliament.
