EC waits for Speaker for a decision on Latif Siddique

The Election Commission is waiting for the Speaker's decision before it moves on Abdul Latif Siddique.

The EC officials say they would not move even if the Awami League informs it about his expulsion from the party.

Siddique's anti-Hajj rant in New York last month provoked a furore across Bangladesh.

After being dropped from the Cabinet and then from the party’s Presidium, Siddique claimed in Kolkata he was still an MP unless the EC gave its verdict.

Two contrasting opinions are doing the rounds on the issue.

Some say despite expulsion from the party, he will remain an MP – a position contested by Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam who thinks otherwise.

Syed Ashraf says the EC has been informed about Siddique's expulsion from the party on the day the AL decided on it.

But Election Commissioner Md Shahnawaz told bdnews24.com that until Sunday evening no such intimation had been received from the Awami League.

"We have received nothing on this" is all he was prepared to say.

"Even after we get an intimation from the Awami League about his ouster from party, we will have to wait for a formal decision from the Speaker," said a top EC official.

The Speaker, after receiving a formal intimation of Siddique's expulsion from the party, would have to decide on the MP's status in keeping with provisions of the 'Members of Parliament Disputes Act and intimate the EC within 30 days.

The EC will have to take a final decision on the issue within 14 days of receiving the Speaker's opinion.

The EC will also have to hear out Siddique and one other party MP.

If the party directly intimates the EC, this may not work in denying Siddique 's MP status, as happened in the case of a Jatiya Party MP.

"It may not be different in this case as well," said a senior official.

When BNP MP Abu Hena was expelled from the party, then the Speaker Md Jamiruddin Sircar ruled in his favour and allowed him to remain MP.

Much depends on how Article 70(1) is interpreted, though Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is clearly unwilling to spell out what action she is contemplating.

"This is a strictly legal matter" is what she has said so far.