Not politics, only for business

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday expelled HM Golam Reza, lawmaker from Satkhira-4, from his party, allegedly over business discord between the two.
However, a JP press release says violation of party discipline was what caused Ershad, who has the absolute authority to hire and fire any member of his party, to expel Reza.
Sources close to Ershad gave a different account of what was behind Reza's expulsion from the JP.
They said the JP chairman in 2003 assigned Reza to look after his cold storage and other businesses in Rangpur and Dhaka.
"But recently he [Reza] misbehaved with sir [Ershad] when he sought to look into the accounts of those businesses. Besides, sir was displeased with his misappropriation of money," a JP leader, who is also a party presidium member, said wishing not to be named.
Contacted by The Daily Star on Thursday, Reza said the allegations of misappropriation of money were baseless.
"I gave him [Ershad] back all his shares in the business."
Shunil Shuvo Roy, political and press secretary to Ershad, said Reza had been served with a show cause notice on charges of breaching the party discipline.
But he had not given any reply within the Saturday noon deadline. He had appealed for a time extension. The party chairman rejected the appeal and scrapped his primary membership in the party, Shunil said.
Earlier on October 2, Ershad ousted Reza from the party's presidium and scrapped his position of the whip of JP parliamentary party, accusing him of "misusing power."
Reza's expulsion triggered speculation over whether he would lose his membership in parliament as well.
Shunil said the JP would not ask the Speaker and the Election Commission to scrap his membership in parliament.
Looking at the precedents, it may be assumed that Reza, who was elected from Satkhira-4 in December 29, 2008 parliamentary polls, will be considered as an independent MP now.
On November 24, 2005, the then ruling BNP expelled its lawmaker Abu Hena from the party for his remarks on the rise of Islamist militants under the patronage of a section of BNP and the government. The party then termed his statement anti-organisational.
"Abu Hena was an independent lawmaker [following his expulsion from the BNP]. There was no possibility of his losing parliamentary membership as he had not violated party's decision or cast a vote against the party," the then Speaker of parliament Jamiruddin Sircar said, explaining the constitutional provision.