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| Bangladesh |
| Jamaats goals still against constitution |
| 2010-01-25 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] The Election Commission (EC) yesterday asked Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to amend its constitution again, as the party's aim and objectives and some other provisions stipulated in it do not conform to the country's constitution and RPO. In a letter to the Jamaat secretary general, the EC pointed out the provisions and asked the party to amend those, said EC sources. The commission also sent letters to eight other political parties including HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party for amending their charters again as well in compliance with the Representation of the People Order (RPO). Freedom Party, formed by a number of killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will lose its registration as it failed to submit its ratified amended charter to the EC within the deadline yesterday. "We received ratified charters of 38 political parties. Freedom Party did not submit its charter. Therefore, its registration will stand cancelled," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain told reporters yesterday in his office. Jamaat's call in its charter for establishing the rule of Islam in the country through organised efforts, requires bringing drastic amendments to the basic structure of the country's constitution, said EC officials. But the country's constitution, the supreme law of the land, does not allow the parliament to amend its basic structure, they added. They also said a number of clauses in Jamaat's charter call for establishing the rule of Islam. In its ratified charter, submitted to the EC on July 22 last year, Jamaat also refuses to accept the parliament's law making power sanctioned by the country's constitution, saying the people must not accept anyone except Allah as the maker of laws. The EC officials said in the face of the commission's objection, Jamaat had deleted the clause from its provisional amended charter to get registration before the ninth parliamentary election. But later it reinstated the controversial clause in its ratified charter, they added. "The letter sent to Jamaat cited it and requested the party to correct its charter in line with the commitment made before getting registration," an EC official said. Jamaat also did not include in the main body of its charter the provision of keeping 33 percent posts in all committees at all levels reserved for women, and for achieving the goal by 2020. Rather the provision is mentioned in a special note in the last page of the charter. The EC asked Jamaat to include the provision among the clauses in the main body of the charter, the commission officials said. A new provision in Jamaat's charter allows non-Muslims to become members of the party, and compels those members to work for Jamaat's aim and objectives. The EC found the provision to be discriminatory and asked the party to 'correct' it, the officials said. |
| Posted by:Fred |