Court to decide whether Khaleda can contest polls: Anisul

Law Minister Anisul Huq today said that it is up to the court to decide whether BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia can participate in the upcoming national election or not.

He came up with the remark while talking to reporters after inaugurating Narayanganj Registration Complex in Fatullah of Narayanganj this afternoon.

“According to the Constitution of the country, if any person is convicted and jailed for two years or more for moral lapse, he or she will not be able to contest in the parliamentary elections within five years after the completion of the jail term,” the law minister said.

“However, there are two different verdicts of the Supreme Court regarding the issue. As per one SC verdict, if the lower court’s sentence against a convict is stayed by the higher court following an appeal, the person will be eligible to contest in the polls. In a split verdict, a justice said the person will be able to contest while the other said he will not,” he said.

In this case, the constitution, which is superior to all laws in the country, should be followed and the court will decide in this regard, Anisul Huq added.

WHAT ARE THE VERDICTS AGAINST KHALEDA?

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was convicted in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case and sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment by a special court in her absence yesterday.

Around nine months ago, she landed in jail being sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust case by the same court.

The High Court today enhanced the punishment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from five years of imprisonment to 10 years in the Zia Orphanage Trust Corruption case.

The two trusts were set up when she was the prime minister -- the orphanage trust during her 1991-1996 rule and the other in 2001-2006. Both were named after her late husband and former president Ziaur Rahman, also the founding chairman of the BNP.

DIALOGUE A RESULT OF FOREIGN PRESSURE?

Replying to a query on whether there was any foreign pressure on the prime minister regarding the dialogue with Jatiya Oikyafront, Anisul said there was no such pressure.

The prime minister gave her consent for the dialogue for the continuation of democracy in the country and the door to such dialogues is always open, the minister said.

Asked if the dialogue will bring an end to the existing political impasse, the minister said that there is no such political crisis in the country.

“The country is running in light of the Constitution and the government has not done anything drifting away from the Constitution,” he added.