SC, not EC, to decide Khaleda’s election fate: CEC
Chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda on Wednesday said the election commission has nothing to do with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia's participation in the next general election.
He rather said it depends totally on the court decision if she will be allowed to join the next polls.
Also the three-time former prime minister, Khaleda is now behind bars, after a Dhaka court sentenced her to five year in jails in a graft case on 8 February.
On the day Khaleda landed jail, the law minister, Anisul Huq, had said it is the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and the election commission that would decide if Khaleda would be able to join the next general elections.
CEC KM Nurul Huda disclosed the election commission’s position in a meeting with the visiting European Parliamentary (EP) delegation, led by chair of the South Asia Delegation of the EU Parliamentary Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs Jean Lambert, at the EC secretariat in the capital
"The CEC told them that it's a matter of the court. If the court allows [her to participate in the election], the EC has nothing to do. And if the court doesn't allow, the EC will have no role as well," EC acting secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.
However, he said, the present political situation or the matter of election violence did not come up for discussions at the meeting.
The EC acting secretary said they actually wanted to know about the country's electoral process like who bear expenditures for arrangement of election.
In reply, the commission said the government bears the expenditures according to the demand.
The EC acting secretary and its joint secretary (in-charge) SM Asaduzzaman were also present in the meeting.