Dhaka: Islami Oikya Jote will not leave the BNP-led 20- party alliance, announced IOJ’s senior-vice-chairman Maulana Abdur Rakib on Thursday proclaiming himself the chairman of the party.

He came up with the announcement within hours of Jote chairman Abdul Latif Nizami’s decision to quit the BNP-lead alliance at the national convention of the party at the Engineers’ Institution in Dhaka.

‘Islami Oikya Jote is with the 20-party alliance and we’ll remain with them in the future,’ Maulana Abdur Rakib told a press briefing at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.

‘Those who’ve decided to leave the 20-party alliance have done so violating the party’s constitution and they’ve lost their position in the party. We’ve replaced them,’ said Rakib.