Editorial
HC ruling voids Jamaat's registration
Rewriting party constitution only remedy
In a landmark decision on August 1, the High Court cancelled registration of Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) party registration. The ruling came in light of a petition challenging the party's registration with the Election Commission (EC) in 2009. Though the party rewrote its constitution earlier, it fails to recognise democracy and parliament as the highest body responsible for enactment of laws. The HC ruling leaves open the door for JI to appeal to the appellate division. However, till the outcome of the appeal, the party cannot take part in national polls.
The HC ruling does not however come as a total surprise. For the past three years, JI has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with the EC to amend its charter. JI's refusal to conform to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) which was changed by the EC in 2008 set the stage for this outcome. JI's charter continues to belittle the country's constitution in that it fails to recognise the plenary power of parliament in making laws. Furthermore, the charter has discriminatory provisions that disallow women and non-Muslims to ever become the party chief. Such clauses are in direct contravention to the constitution that holds specific views against discrimination based on religion and gender.
Given that no political party can operate in Bangladesh without taking into cognizance the constitution and EC's revised RPO, it is expected that JI will recast its party charter and reintegrate itself in the political fabric of the land.
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