What will happen to expelled Jamaat leader Gazi Nazrul's parliamentary seat?

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expelled Gazi Nazrul Islam, the Member of Parliament for the Satkhira-4 constituency, after videos of his "private moments" circulated widely on social media. The move has raised a key question: Will he be able to retain his seat in Parliament?

Under Bangladesh's election laws, anyone contesting a parliamentary election must either be nominated by a political party or run as an independent candidate. Those elected on a party ticket are recognised in Parliament as members of that party.

The qualifications and disqualifications for parliamentary candidates are laid out in Article 66 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Order (RPO). If a person becomes disqualified after being elected, they may lose their parliamentary seat.

Article 66 lists the circumstances under which a person is disqualified from being elected or remaining a MP. One of those is conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude. However, the individual must have been sentenced to at least two years'' imprisonment.

The Constitution states that a person is not qualified to be elected or remain an MP if they are convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to no less than two years in prison, and five years have not elapsed since their release.

Meanwhile, Article 70 of the Constitution provides that if an MP elected as a nominee of a political party resigns from that party or votes against it in Parliament, the parliamentary seat becomes vacant.

The Constitution clearly states that an MP loses their seat if they leave their party or vote against it. However, it does not explicitly address what happens if the party expels the MP after the election.

Article 66 also provides that if any dispute arises over whether an MP''s seat should become vacant under Article 70, the matter must be referred to the Election Commission, whose decision is final.

There are precedents where MPs remained in office despite being expelled from their political parties.

According to sources at the Parliament Secretariat, Abu Hena, who was elected as a BNP candidate in the Eighth Parliament during the BNP-led four-party alliance government, was later expelled by the party.
At the time, then Speaker Muhammad Jamir Uddin Sircar ruled that Abu Hena could retain his parliamentary seat.

Similar situations have arisen on other occasions as well.

A comparable situation emerged during the Tenth Parliament involving Abdul Latif Siddique, although the legal controversy was never conclusively resolved.

In 2014, the Awami League expelled Latif Siddique over controversial remarks and also revoked his primary party membership. Since he had been elected as an Awami League candidate, questions arose over whether he could continue as an MP.

After expelling him, the Awami League wrote to the Speaker recommending that his parliamentary membership be cancelled. The Speaker then referred the matter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), and the Election Commission sought explanations from both the Awami League and Latif Siddique.

In its submission, signed by then Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, the party argued that Latif Siddique had been elected as the party's nominee. It cited election law defining a candidate as either a party nominee or an independent candidate, arguing that a party nominee cannot become an independent after the election. Since Latif Siddique had been expelled from all party positions, the Awami League argued that he no longer belonged to the party and therefore had lost the legal right to remain an MP.

Latif Siddique, however, argued in his response to the Election Commission that Article 66 specifies the circumstances in which an MP may lose their seat—such as being declared mentally incompetent or bankrupt by a court, pledging allegiance to a foreign state, being convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to at least two years in prison, being convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal, holding an office of profit under the Republic, or resigning from the party or voting against it under Article 70.

He maintained that none of those conditions applied in his case and therefore the Election Commission had no jurisdiction to hear the matter.

To support his position, Latif Siddique cited an Indian Supreme Court ruling stating that if a party expels one of its legislators, the member retains their parliamentary seat and continues to be regarded as a member of that party until the term of Parliament ends.

Ultimately, however, the Election Commission never had to decide the dispute. When the hearing began, Latif Siddique informed the commission that he intended to resign voluntarily. The commission then suspended proceedings for two weeks.

On 1 September, 2015, Latif Siddique attended a parliamentary session, delivered a speech, and submitted his resignation to the Speaker. On 3 September, then Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury formally informed Parliament that his seat had become vacant.

In expelling Gazi Nazrul Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami cited "moral misconduct." However, the Constitution only disqualifies an MP on grounds of moral turpitude if the individual has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to at least two years' imprisonment.

On the face of it, therefore, the party's finding of moral misconduct alone does not currently disqualify Gazi Nazrul from serving as an MP.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, former adviser to the interim government and former Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain said that, under Article 70 of the Constitution, a person expelled from their political party should not be able to retain their parliamentary seat.

Asked about the Latif Siddique precedent, he said MPs are elected as nominees of their political parties. If a party expels one of its MPs, that person is no longer a member of the party. Nor can they become an independent MP after being elected.

Based on that interpretation, the former Election Commissioner believes that Gazi Nazrul Islam's parliamentary seat should become vacant following his expulsion from Jamaat-e-Islami.