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Jamaat yet to amend party constitution

Deadline expired long ago, but EC took no action

Staff Correspondent
Although the deadline for amending its constitution expired two and a half years ago, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami still remains a political party registered with the Election Commission, thanks to the inaction of the EC.
The party's aims and objectives and some other provisions stipulated in its charter do not conform to the country's constitution and Representation of the People Order (RPO), said sources in EC.
Several clauses in the charter call for establishing the rule of Islam in the country through making organised efforts.
It also refused to accept the parliament's plenary powers to formulate laws, saying people must not accept anyone except Allah as the maker of laws.
The Islamist party even dropped from the main body of its charter the provisions of keeping 33 percent posts reserved for women in the party committees at all levels and achieving the goal by 2020. The provision has been mentioned in a special note on the last page of the charter.
Like the other 38 parties,
Jamaal was supposed to submit its amended constitution to the EC by January 24,2010.
On expiry of the deadline, the EC had asked Jamaal twice -- in January and April, 2010 -- to amend the provisions as the country's charter required drastic changes to accommodate their aims and objectives, said EC officials.
But the country's constitution, the supreme law of the land, does not allow parliament to change its basic structure.
The RPO clearly stipulates that a political party will be disqualified from getting registered if any provision in its charter contradicts with the country's constitution and the RPO.
Registration with the EC
is a prerequisite for any political party to contest the parliamentary polls.
A Jamaal delegation on June 7, 2010 met the EC and turned in a letter with a promise to bring necessary changes to its charter. But they did not do so, said an EC official.
The EC later in November that year had decided to write to them again, but it refrained from doing so as the top Jamaal leaders were detained at that lime on charges of committing crimes against humanity and the party was facing difficulties to continue its activities, he added.
Since then the previous EC did not move ahead with the issue during the rest of its tenure which expired in
February this year.
Contacted, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said he was not aware of the issue.
Talking to The Daily Star on Tuesday, Jamaal's Legal Affairs Secretary Jasim Uddin Sarkar claimed they met the EC in June 2010 and gave clarifications on some objections raised by the EC. "The EC was satisfied with our clarifications."
All the other 37 registered parlies including the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party had to correct their charters to conform to the registrationcriteria.
The EC cancelled the registration of Freedom Parly as it failed to submit its ratified charter within the deadline.