BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will not be able to contest in the upcoming 11th general election unless the verdicts in two corruption cases that landed her in jail are scrapped, say government officials.
Now incarcerated following her February 8 conviction in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, Khaleda is undergoing medical treatment at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.
She was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust case on Monday, just less than two months before the national polls, and both convictions will prevent her from contesting in the election.
Section 66 (2) (d) of the constitution says that a person will be disqualified from running in the election, if that person “has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.”
Tuesday, after High Court in its appeal verdict doubled Khaleda’s five-year jail term in the first case, Law Minister Anisul Huq said that only the court will decide whether the BNP chief would be able to take part in the polls or not.
“It was mentioned in one of the Supreme Court verdicts that she [Khaleda] will be able to join the polls if the sentence is suspended in appeal, while in another split verdict, one judge said she will be able to contest and the other said no. So, at the end, it is up to the court to decide,” he said.
He also added that the constitutional provisions will also be followed to the letter in this regard.
However, after Tuesday’s verdict, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said: “Khaleda Zia will not be able to participate in the election until her sentence in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case is cancelled.”
“Even if her appeal remains pending or the sentenced is suspended, she might escape serving jail term but cannot join the polls,” he said.
He added that, if they wanted, Khaleda’s lawyers would have to file an appeal with the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division within 30 days challenging the High Court judgment.
Khurshid Alam Khan, the lawyer representing the Anti-Corruption Commission that filed the cases, also said that Khaleda became ineligible to contest in the national polls right after she was convicted by the trial courts in both cases.
BNP leaders remain silent
Since her imprisonment back in February, major opposition BNP has been demanding Khaleda’s release from jail before the announcement of the election schedule.
They also warned the government that their party and the people would not allow anyone to organize the polls before she is free.
However, some leaders on several occasions have hinted that they might participate in the election with Khaleda, or her son acting BNP chief Tarique Rahman who currently lives in London, as contesting in the polls is part of normal political activities.
Nevertheless, the party, which is out of parliament for the past five years, will have to decide soon whether it would participate in the upcoming polls without Khaleda.
The party had boycotted the 10th general election in January 2014 and will lose its registration with the Election Commission if it sits out the next one. That will prevent BNP from contesting in the future elections.
The Dhaka Tribune had reached out to a number of top BNP leaders for comments on the issue, but all of them refused to respond.
The party’s National Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Vice-Chairman Selima Rahman both refused to comment on the matter, saying only Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will announce their next course of action.