DHAKA, Nov. 7 (Jamaat Statement) — Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan, the acting Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has delivered a statement today (7^thNovember, 2013) protesting the comment of the Election Commissioner M Shah Newaz in which he stated that, following the High court verdict, the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami became void and invalid. Detail of the statement of Mr. Rafiqul Islam Khan is as follows:

 According to article 38 of the Constitution, Jamaat-e-Islami is constitutionally approved democratic political party. Jamaat follows the Constitution, existing law and democratic norms. All programs of this party are democratic and it does not believe in unconstitutional and undemocratic activities.

Jamaat had applied for registration in 2008. The election commission also delivered the registration after being satisfied with the party activities. The Election Commission is the legal authority to issue registration for a party. The election commission is a constitutional body. The commission has never issued a show cause notice against Jamaat-e-Islami in regards to its registration. Rather, Jamaat immediately responded to their queries regarding the party constitution and upgraded it as per the instruction of the commission. The registration process of Jamaat-e-Islami is a continuous process.

A dissenting judgment of the High Court, in a writ filed in 2009 by the Torikat Federation, a ruling party backed organization, declared the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami as void. The division bench of the High Court also issued an appeal certificate as per the article 103 of the Constitution. This issuance of appeal certificate also proves that, the final fate of this writ will be dissolved in the appellate division. The High Court gave the dissenting judgment on 1^st August but it is not dissolved in the appellate division yet.

Under such circumstances, the election commissioner’s statement is unconstitutional and illogical. His statement is biased and politically motivated. His comment reflects the politics of vengeance of the ruling Awami League. The conspiracy what Awami League already had started to keep Jamaat out of the election process, the election commissioner has echoed the same plot today. He also talked about publishing a notice of cancelling the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami in the commission’s website, which goes beyond his jurisdiction. The commissioner should keep in mind that, the High Court issued an appeal certificate along with its judgment and threw the ball to the appellate division for the ultimate remedy. No case is considered to be dissolved before it finished in the appellate division, Mr. Shah Newaz should have that idea. There is no way to declare Jamaat-e-Islami;’s registration illegal unless the case is dissolved in the Appellate division.

The election commissioner’s comment cannot be the view of the Election Commission. This comment indicates that, not the legal affair, rather subduing Jamaat is their main target.

I am urging the Election Commissioners to be refraining from delivering such confusing statement.