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| Bangladesh |
| Jamaat fires broadside against EC for 'steps beyond jurisdiction' |
| 2008-02-27 |
| At the second sitting for an electoral reform dialogue with the Election Commission (EC) yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami embarked on a tirade against the commission accusing it of virtually stepping beyond its jurisdiction, which the EC rebutted categorically. But the Islamist party did not specify which action of the EC constitutes stepping beyond its jurisdiction. "The Election Commission's recommendation to amend the laws on different issues is unwanted and tantamount to stepping beyond its jurisdiction," said Jamaat's written electoral reform proposals submitted to the commission yesterday. In the face of a rising demand of most of the traditional parliamentary political parties taking part in the dialogues, for trying war criminals in an effort to disqualify them from contesting in any poll, the commission on the first day of the second round of talks told some of the parties that it will make a recommendation to the government for trying the war criminals. Earlier, the commission incorporated in its electoral reform proposal a provision for disqualifying any convicted war criminal from contesting in any election. Yesterday morning at a bilateral dialogue with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu), the EC made a new promise for making another recommendation to the government regarding disqualifying anti-liberation organisations from contesting in parliamentary elections, considering a majority of participating parties' demand for it. Launching a broadside against the EC during the bilateral talk between the commission and Jamaat in the afternoon, the latter also termed as 'disgusting' the demand of the participating parties for not to register Jamaat as a parliamentary party labelling it as an anti-liberation force. It also claimed that the accusations against it are completely imaginary. In the written statement submitted to the EC, it said, "The Election Commission's neutrality will become questionable if it takes any step or make any recommendation giving credence to their motivated demands." Jamaat's delegation led by its Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid also said in the EC's pattern of inviting parties to the talks it is evident that it has a bias against Islamic political parties while favouring some parties which are 'anti-religion'. The Jamaat secretary general, who on October 25 said his party did not work against the liberation war in 1971, and claimed that there is no war criminal in the country, however declined to comment yesterday on an EC proposal for barring convicted war criminals from contesting in polls. Emerging from the talk, Mojahid left the EC Secretariat premises hurriedly avoiding questions from journalists. |
| Posted by:Fred |