Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) on Thursday sent letters to the Speaker of the National Parliament and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), urging them to take the necessary action against Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam.
Earlier on Wednesday the BJI expelled Gazi Nazrul Islam from the party following the circulation of videos showing his "private moments" on social media.
Sources at the BJI said the party in its letter said an internal organisational investigation into media reports concerning Gazi Nazrul Islam had found evidence of moral turpitude.
As a result, he was expelled from the party under Article 62 of the BJI's constitution. The letter states that the decision was unanimously adopted at an emergency meeting of the party's Central Executive Council on Wednesday.
Leader of opposition and BJI Ameer Shafiqur Rahman presided over the meeting. The party requested the EC to take necessary steps regarding Gazi Nazrul's status.
UNB adds: Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud on Thursday said there is no scope for the Election Commission (EC) to take direct action based on a letter from Jamaat-e-Islam over the parliament membership status of its expelled leader Gazi Nazrul Islam MP (Satkhira-4). "I don't think there is any scope to take direct action on the basis of a letter alone," he said adding that the question of whether an MP loses his or her parliamentary seat after being expelled from a political party remains a highly controversial issue.
The Election Commissioner made the remark while talking to reporters at his office in Nirbachan Bhaban in the city's Agargaon area.
Rahmanel Masud, however, said if the EC receives any letter from Jamaat-e-Islami on this issue, the Commission examine its content and then consider what steps could be taken. He explained that if an MP resigns from parliament, the matter would not come before the EC.
If parliament refers a dispute regarding an MP's qualification to the EC under Article 66 of the Constitution, the Commission would take decision for proper investigation and deposition of witnesses. If he resigns from the party, the matter would come under the purview of the EC, he added.
On the issue of "moral turpitude," the Commissioner said the EC has no scope to take the matter of his moral turpitude in cognisance on its own.
He said that allegations of moral turpitude alone do not constitute a constitutional disqualification for election. "If a person has been convicted on charges involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least two years' imprisonment, that could become a ground for disqualification. Otherwise, there is no scope for the Election Commission to take suo motu cognisance of the matter," he said.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com
