BNP lawmaker Ferdousi Ahmed Misty’s resignation from Parliament on Thursday immediately cost her the seat.
But more than two months after Jamaat-e-Islami expelled Gazi Nazrul Islam, the Satkhira-4 lawmaker remains an MP, and even his arrest and imprisonment in a criminal case have not changed that.
The contrasting cases have brought into sharp focus a constitutional question with no automatic answer: How long can an MP remain in Parliament after the party that nominated him has expelled him?
For Misty, the process was straightforward.
She submitted her resignation to Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed on Thursday following Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s directive that she step down amid allegations surrounding the September 24 attack, looting and demolition of the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur.
Under Article 67(2) of the Constitution, her resignation took effect upon being received by the speaker. The Parliament Secretariat subsequently issued a notification declaring reserved Women’s Seat-23 vacant from October 1.
Gazi Nazrul’s case is markedly different.
Jamaat expelled him on July 22 following an internal investigation into what the party described as “moral misconduct.”
It subsequently informed both the speaker and the Election Commission and sought necessary action over his parliamentary membership.
More than two months later, however, Nazrul remains the MP for Satkhira-4.
The reason lies in the distinction between leaving a party and being expelled by one.
What Article 70 says
Article 70 of the Constitution provides that an MP elected as a candidate of a political party vacates the seat if the member resigns from that party or votes in Parliament against it.
It does not expressly state that an MP automatically loses the seat when the party itself expels the member.
That distinction has left Nazrul in an unusual position: Jamaat no longer recognises him as a member, but his parliamentary membership continues.
The Election Commission has already said it cannot strip him of the seat merely on the basis of Jamaat’s expulsion letter.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said after the expulsion that the commission would require a formal reference from Parliament before it could consider the dispute. He also said Nazrul would continue as an MP until the issue was resolved.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Masud reiterated that the EC cannot act independently on the information supplied by Jamaat.
“Based on the information we have received from Jamaat-e-Islami, we cannot take action against him at this moment,” he said.
Under Article 66(4), he said, the commission can consider the issue if Parliament refers the question to it.
“Once the Speaker receives the matter, he is required to send it to the Election Commission,” Masud said.
Jamaat says it has done its part
Jamaat argues that there is little more the party itself can do.
Its Central Executive Council member and Dhaka-12 MP Saiful Alam Khan Milon told Dhaka Tribune that the party had already taken organizational action and written to both the speaker and EC seeking cancellation of Nazrul’s parliamentary membership.
“Even so, he may still retain his membership under the existing legal framework. There is nothing more we can do in that regard,” he said.
The EC’s position, however, is that Jamaat’s letter alone is insufficient to initiate proceedings.
The result is a constitutional limbo in which Nazrul is no longer a member of the party whose ticket took him to Parliament, but remains the elected representative of Satkhira-4.
Arrest does not end membership either
The issue has taken on greater significance following the September 20 death of Nazrul’s 19-year-old second wife, Mariam Khatun, at a flat in NAM Bhaban in Dhaka.
Mariam’s father, SM Masum Billah, subsequently filed a case under Section 306 of the Penal Code against Nazrul, his first wife Maksuda Begum and former driver Obaidur Rahman, accusing them of abetment of suicide.
Nazrul was arrested and interrogated on two rounds of remand before being sent to jail.
On Wednesday, a Dhaka court again rejected his bail application even after Mariam’s father submitted an agreement saying he had no objection to bail following an out-of-court settlement. Maksuda was granted bail. The criminal proceedings remain pending.
But arrest, remand, imprisonment pending trial or being accused in a criminal case does not by itself terminate parliamentary membership.
Article 66 provides separate grounds for disqualification, including where a person is convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to imprisonment for at least two years, subject to the conditions set out in the Constitution.
Nazrul has not been convicted in the case over Mariam’s death. That route to disqualification has therefore not arisen.