The Jatiya Party (), JaPa or JP(E), is a political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 January 1986 by then Bangladeshi president Hussain Muhammad Ershad. The party was the ruling party of the country between 1986 and 1990.
Following the 1985 Bangladeshi military rule referendum, Ershad established the party as a civilian platform to support his military presidency. Within two years, it won two parliamentary elections, though both were widely regarded as flawed. After Ershad's removal in the 1990 mass uprising, the party was unable to regain electoral dominance but joined coalition governments on several occasions with the Awami League. Following the 2014 election, it played a dual role by serving both as the parliamentary opposition and as a participant in the ruling Awami League coalition cabinet, leading to its characterization as a "domesticated opposition". In subsequent elections under Sheikh Hasina, boycotted by other major opposition parties, the Jatiya Party continued to serve as the opposition in parliament. After Hasina's fall from power, some groups called for banning the party due to its past cooperation with her government.
Over time, the party has faced repeated divisions, and the registered Jatiya Party–JaPa now operates under two rival factions: one led by GM Quader with Shamim Haider Patwary, and the other by Anisul Islam Mahmud with A.B.M. Ruhul Amin Howlader as secretary general.
History
thumb|President [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad, the founder of the party]]
The party was established by military ruler, Hussain Muhammad Ershad on 1 January 1986. He was the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army. He had seized power through a coup d'état on 24 March 1982. He ruled the country as its chief martial law administrator. Politics was banned during the state of emergency imposed by Ershad, when Justice A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury was appointed President of Bangladesh. The Janadal Party was formed under the leadership of A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, through Ershad's declaration of the 19-point programme on 17 March 1983.
Chowdhury announced the formation of Janadal on 27 November 1983. Chowdhury was the convenor and MA Matin as general secretary. When Ershad became president, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, the leader of Awami League (Mizan), was named chairman and Riazuddin Ahmed (also known as Bhola Mia, in his area) the general secretary. Ershad formed a second political party, Jatiya Front, under the politician of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (Azizur), Shah Azizur Rahman, with members of Janadal and Bangladesh Muslim League, the Ganatantri Dal, United Peoples' Party. Moudud Ahmed, and Anwar Hossain Manju joined Jatiya Front. The front was dissolved in six months and a new political party called Jatiya Party was formed on 1 January 1986 with Ershad as its chairman. Despite being a opposition party, some leaders of Jatiya Party were also in the government cabinet. In January 2016, Ershad's brother, GM Quader, was made vice chairman of the party. In April 2016, Ershad appointed Rowshan as the vice-chairman of the party. In March 2017, Ershad indicated he might form a new political alliance with 14 other parties. For the next general election however, the Jatiya Party under HM Ershad formed a 58 party grand alliance of its own. Of the 58 parties, only Jatiya Party and Bangladesh Islamic Front have registration with the election commission as of 2017.
In early July 2024, Chhatra Samaj and Jatiyo Party expressed support for the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement and condemned attacks and harassment on student protestors by Chhatra League and Awami League. GM Quader in July 2024 stated that the quota movement was legitimate and logical.
On 31 October 2024, a group of protesters under the banner of "Anti-Fascism Student, Worker, and People's Movement" vandalised and burned down the central office of Jatiya Party in Bijoynagar, Dhaka.
In 2026 Bangladeshi general election, the party did not win any seat after fielding a total of 195 candidates.
Election results
Presidential elections
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party candidate
!Votes
!%
!Result
|-
!1985
|rowspan="2"|Hussain Muhammad Ershad
|32,661,233
|94.5%
|Elected
|-
!1986
|21,795,337
|84.1%
|Elected
|}
Jatiya Sangsad elections
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party leader
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Government
|-
!1986
|rowspan="7"|Hussain Muhammad Ershad
|12,079,259
|42.34%
|
|New
| 1st
|
|-
!1988
|17,680,133
|68.44%
|
| 98
| 1st
|
|-
!1991
|4,063,537
|11.92%
|
| 216
| 4th
|
|-
!Feb 1996
|colspan="2"|Boycotted
|
| 35
|
|
|-
!Jun 1996
|6,954,981
|16.40%
|
| 32
| 3rd
|
|-
!2001
|4,038,453
|7.25%
|
| 18
| 3rd
|
|-
!2008
|4,926,360
|7.04%
|
| 13
| 3rd
|
|-
!2014
|Rowshan Ershad
|1,199,727
|7.00%
|
| 7
| 2nd
|
|-
!2018
|Hussain Muhammad Ershad
|4,443,351
|5.22%
|
| 8
| 2nd
|
|-
!2024
| rowspan="2" |GM Quader
|2,179,673
|4.33%
|
| 15
| 2nd
|
|-
!2026
|TBA
|0.89%
|
|11
|
|
|}
See also
- Grand Alliance (Bangladesh)
- Jatiya Party (Manju)
- Bangladesh Jatiya Party