Which party does Satkhira’s Gazi Nazrul Islam now represent in parliament?

After Jamaat-e-Islami expelled Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam from the party, it wrote to the Parliam Speaker and the Election Commission (EC) seeking action against him.

However, he remains a member of parliament. This has raised the question of which party Gazi Nazrul now represents in parliament, or whether he is sitting as an independent.

Gazi Nazrul Islam, however, still considers himself a Jamaat MP. He told Prothom Alo yesterday, Tuesday, “I have been expelled from the party, but by the grace of Allah, my membership is still there. As far as I know, I am still a Jamaat member on paper and everywhere else. I don’t know what Jamaat is saying or not saying.”

Jamaat leaders, however, say otherwise. According to them, Gazi Nazrul is no longer a member of the party following his expulsion. They said letters informing the Parliament Secretariat and the EC of the decision had been sent.

Mohammad Izzat Ullah, a member of Jamaat’s Central Executive Council and MP for Satkhira-1, told Prothom Alo yesterday that the letters regarding Gazi Nazrul’s expulsion had been sent to the Parliament Secretariat and the EC. I don’t know what he is saying now. We are not in contact with him either, he said.

Prothom Alo also spoke to Jamaat’s parliamentary whip Rafiqul Islam Khan, an assistant secretary general of the party, about the matter. He said, “You would have to ask him [Gazi Nazrul Islam] about that.”

When Rafiqul Islam Khan was later told what Gazi Nazrul had said, he replied, “He is saying what he believes, and we have said what we believe. … We expelled him from the party and then sent letters everywhere, including to the Speaker and the Election Commission. We have done everything that was within our power.”

Tensions in parliament

There have been several developments concerning Gazi Nazrul Islam’s position in parliament since his expulsion. He was not invited to a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs on 18 August.

He is one of the 10 members of the committee. At the time, committee chairman and BNP MP Monirul Islam Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that Gazi Nazrul had not been invited because Jamaat did not want him to attend.

There was also a debate in parliament over whether Gazi Nazrul should be included in the Government Assurances Committee. Following objections from the Opposition, his name was ultimately removed from the committee.

These developments have also raised questions about his party affiliation in parliament. However, his seat as an MP remains intact.

Several Jamaat-linked sources said Gazi Nazrul had been advised to resign from the party following his expulsion. He was told that there had been precedents in the past in which people who were expelled were given an opportunity to return to the party, even after a long period, if they admitted their mistakes and reformed. But instead of taking that route, Gazi Nazrul has been trying to contact the party’s central leaders. His objective, the sources said, is to return to the party by any means possible.

According to these sources, on 20 August, the day of the presidential election, Gazi Nazrul tried to contact several opposition MPs. His aim was to get an opportunity to vote in the election on behalf of the opposition.

However, he did not receive a response from Jamaat leaders. Party sources also said Gazi Nazrul had tried to contact several other members of Jamaat’s Central Executive Council.

Jamaat leaders said that regardless of what Gazi Nazrul does, there is no scope for reversing the decision to expel him. The party has also begun working on finding an alternative candidate for his constituency.

A member of Jamaat’s Central Executive Council, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said Gazi Nazrul’s attempts to return to the party were unacceptable. Jamaat will not change its position on his expulsion, he said.

What will happen to his parliamentary seat?

The biggest question in Gazi Nazrul’s case concerns the constitutional provisions on disqualification from parliament. The Constitution provides for disqualification if an MP is convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least two years in prison. However, there is no provision stating that an MP’s seat is automatically cancelled simply because a political party expels the member on grounds of “moral turpitude.”

At present, whether Gazi Nazrul will retain his parliamentary seat depends on decisions by the Speaker and the EC. However, the Speaker, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, has yet to make any decision following Jamaat’s letter. The Election Commission has also not made any decision on the matter.

Parliament Secretariat sources said a similar question arose in the 10th parliament over then Awami League MP Abdul Latif Siddiqui after he was expelled from the party. In 2014, following controversial remarks, the Awami League expelled Latif Siddiqui and cancelled his primary membership of the party.

The party later wrote to the Speaker recommending that his parliamentary seat be cancelled. In response, the then Speaker wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner seeking a resolution of the matter.

Ultimately, however, the EC did not have to make a decision on the issue. On 1 September 2015, Latif Siddiqui attended a parliamentary session and delivered a speech before submitting his resignation to the Speaker. On 3 September, then Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury informed parliament that Latif Siddiqui’s seat had become vacant.

Prothom Alo contacted incumbent Chief Whip of Parliament Nurul Islam Moni on Tuesday via WhatsApp to ask about Gazi Nazrul Islam’s parliamentary seat. He is currently in Madinah for Umrah.

In a message to Prothom Alo, he said, he [Gazi Nazrul] has been expelled from the party. At present, he is not affiliated with any party. However, under the Constitution, there is no requirement for him to lose his parliamentary seat.

Gazi Nazrul Islam, 75, has been elected MP from Satkhira-4 for the third time. Recently, a video showing him in a private moment with a young woman circulated on social media. Jamaat subsequently said it had found evidence of “moral turpitude” against him and expelled him from the party on 22 July.

Jamaat subsequently sent letters to the Speaker, the Election Commission and all relevant authorities seeking action against Gazi Nazrul Islam. Whether he will retain his parliamentary seat remains unresolved and is now awaiting decisions by the Speaker and the EC.