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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Jamaat now accepts plenary power of JS |
| 2008-10-24 |
| Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has made further changes in its constitution to accept the lawmaking power of parliament and conform to the criteria for registration. It has deleted from its revised charter the phrases that undermine the legislative authority conferred on parliament by the republic's constitution, said sources at the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat. Section 2 (5) in the interim charter it submitted to the EC Monday said people must not accept anyone except Allah as the law-making authority. They must not swear loyalty to anyone except Allah. Besides, it added, they shall refuse to obey anything that is not ordained by Allah and based on the laws coming from Him. The technical committee commissioned by the EC to examine the registration applications found the phrases unconstitutional. It asked Jamaat to get rid of the words when the party's legal affairs secretary met it at the EC Secretariat Wednesday afternoon. In response, Jamaat hurried to fix the problem. In hours, it informed the committee that it had deleted the phrases in dispute, added the EC sources. Following the deletion, the EC accepted Jamaat's charter, and said it does no longer run counter to the country's constitution. Technical committee chief Nurul Islam Khan yesterday said, "We are pleased that Jamaat has discarded the phrases." Speaking to reporters at his office, he said, "We don't think the party now will have trouble getting registered." According to the revised Representation of the People Order (RPO), a political party shall not be qualified for registration if the objectives in its constitution contradict those in the constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the EC yesterday directed BNP not to keep Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal as its associated organisations, EC sources said. It communicated the instructions to the party at a meeting with BNP Joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan. After the meeting at the EC Secretariat, the BNP leader told reporters that the party does not require any major changes in its revised charter. "As far as I can make out, I don't see any obstacle for us to getting registered," he said referring to his discussions with the EC. In its provisional constitution turned in to the EC Monday, BNP scrapped the provision for front organisations, but had a section providing for associated bodies made up of students and workers. The expert committee found that giving JCD and Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal the status of associated organisations contradicts the registration criteria. Sources in the EC said the commission is optimistic that like Awami League, BNP too will bring about the necessary changes in its constitution. |
| Posted by:Fred |