BNP plans to keep convicts out of polls
BNP is collecting information about its leaders who are already convicted by trial courts on different criminal charges under emergency powers rules (EPR), as part of its plan to keep them out of the December 18 parliamentary race if necessary.
The party is also preparing an alternative list of prospective nominees, just in case the convicted powerful leaders with proven ability to clinch victory for the party ticket are finally barred from contesting in the election, said BNP insiders.
The move has been necessitated by the predicament the party finds itself in as a large number of its leaders with track records of winning elections are either convicted of different crimes under EPR or facing criminal charges or their reputations are marred by highly questionable past practices.
Party leaders, however, said the nominees will be finalised by the top leadership after getting the survey report and factoring in other 'related issues'.
"We are colleting information about our former lawmakers, who are convicted by courts, as we might have to replace them with new candidates if the convicted are finally not allowed to contest due to the emergency," a senior leader of the party told The Daily Star yesterday.
He also said his party believes that none should be barred form contesting in polls until the person's conviction is upheld by the highest court.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda on Wednesday said persons convicted by courts under EPR will not be allowed to contest in the upcoming election if the poll is held under the state of emergency.
But, BNP Joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan said if anyone is convicted by a trial court, the person must be given a scope to appeal the higher court against the verdict, and if the higher court upholds the conviction only then the person's disqualification from election can be justified.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday he also said to disqualify a convicted person from contesting in elections or to declare the person unfit for polls without giving a chance to appeal, is unconstitutional.
There is a legal debate that remains unresolved regarding the matter. The constitution of the country says a person with criminal conviction is barred from contesting in polls if the person is sentenced to prison for two years or more, and the convicted will remain ineligible for contesting in any poll until five years have elapsed since the person's release from prison, or until the conviction is overturned by a higher court.
But in the 1996 election, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad was allowed to contest and he won the poll despite a criminal conviction against him which was being appealed, his membership in the parliament was however revoked in 2000 as the High Court Division of Supreme Court later upheld the conviction.
According to BNP leaders, their Chairperson Khaleda Zia also raised the issue of convicted party leaders during her meeting with advisers to the military backed caretaker government in her cantonment residence on September 22, the day before the party's official dialogue with the government in the Chief Adviser's Office.
During the meeting the former premier urged the government to release more than 30 former lawmakers of the party who are either convicted or facing different criminal charges including corruption under EPR.
She however assured the government that they will have no problem in accepting the convictions against the party leaders if the highest court upholds the verdicts of the trial courts.
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