Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud on Thursday said there is no scope for the Election Commission to take direct action based on a letter from Jamaat-e-Islam over the parliament membership status of its expelled leader Gazi Nazrul Islam MP (Satkhira-4).
"I don't think there is any scope to take direct action on the basis of a letter alone,” he said adding that the question of whether an MP loses his or her parliamentary seat after being expelled from a political party remains a highly controversial issue.
The Election Commissioner made the remark while talking to reporters at his office in Nirbachan Bhaban in the city’s Agargaon area.
Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday expelled Satkhira-4 lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam on ground of what the party described as "moral lapses" following the circulation of a viral video that showed the MP in an intimate situation with a young girl in a room.
Rahmanel Masud, however, said if the EC receives any letter from Jamaat-e-Islami on this issue, the Commission examine its content and then consider what steps could be taken.
He explained that if an MP resigns from Parliament, the matter would not come before the Election Commission.
If Parliament refers a dispute regarding an MP's qualification to the EC under Article 66 of the Constitution, the Commission would take decision for proper investigation and deposition of witnesses.
If he resigns from the party, the matter would come under the purview of the Election Commission, he added.
On the issue of “moral turpitude,” the Commissioner said the Election Commission has no scope to take the matter of his moral turpitude in cognisance on its own.
He said that allegations of moral turpitude alone do not constitute a constitutional disqualification for election.
"If a person has been convicted on charges involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least two years' imprisonment, that could become a ground for disqualification. Otherwise, there is no scope for the Election Commission to take suo motu cognisance of the matter," he said.
According to the Article 70 of the Constitution, a person elected as a member of Parliament at an election at which he was nominated as a candidate by a political party shall vacate his seat if he (a) resigns from that party or (b) votes in Parliament against that party.
An MP may also lose parliamentary membership if he or she becomes disqualified under Article 66 of the Constitution. The qualifications and disqualifications for election to parliament are mentioned in the article 66.
The article 66 (1) (d) states that a person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of Parliament who 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.