AL has no authority to oust me: Latif

Former post and telecommunications minister Latif Siddique has claimed that the Awami League (AL) does not have any jurisdiction to cancel his party membership for making controversial comments on Hajj. Latif sent a letter to the Election commission yesterday, stating that the decision to cancel his party membership has been taken based on wrong interpretations. Latif also urged the EC not to get involved in the hearing on the issue. The former minister said he would be grateful if the commission returns the letter to the Speaker of Parliament.
"The allegation brought against me for hurting religious sentiments is factitious and baseless. For the sake of argument, even if I made the comment, the Awami League Central Working Committee does not have any jurisdiction to cancel my membership because I went there (New York) as the people’s representative, and my statement will be considered as one made by people’s representative. There is no scope to consider the comment as coming from a member of the Awami League,” he mentioned in the letter.
“So the decision to cancel my membership from the AL has been taken based on completely wrong interpretations,” said the former minister. He claimed that the allegation brought against him by the AL is inconsistent with Article 66(4) and 70 of the Constitution and does not require an EC hearing.
Article 66(4) states: If any dispute arises as to whether a member of Parliament has, after his election, become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Clause (2) or as to whether a member of Parliament should vacate his seat pursuant to Article 70, the dispute shall be referred to the Election Commission to hear and determine it and the decision of the Commission on such reference shall be final.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, on July 13, had sent a letter to EC regarding the membership of Latif Siddique. After receiving the letter, the EC issued two letters to Latif Siddique and AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on July 16 in this regard.  
Both Latif and Syed Ashraful responded to the letters on the last day of submitting their explanation yesterday.  Ashraful, in his letter, asked the EC to cancel Latif's membership.
AL’s deputy office secretary Mrinal Kanti Das told the reporters, “Latif Siddique is not a member of the AL. He has legally lost the right to be a party member.”  
On July 13, the AL had sent a letter to speaker Shirin Sharmin, saying, "The AL has taken the decision to expel Latif Siddique from the party as per its party constitution. As he lost the primary membership, it will not be right to keep him as a member of Parliament.”
EC secretary Md Sirajul Islam told The Independent that he has received letters of Latif Siddique and the AL about their explanations and recommendations.  Asked about the next step to be taken regarding Latif, he said, “All matters will be scrutinised as per law.”
Replying to another query, he said, “It cannot be said how long it will take to make a decision about Latif.”  
AL snubs Latif claim When contacted, AL leaders said they rejected Latif’s claim that the AL has no authority to expel him from the party. AL advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta said the party higher-ups definitely have the power to expel any party member if they fail to follow party rules and regulations.
AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said, “If the AL does not have the power to expel him (Latif) from the party, then who does?”  The ruling AL, in its central working committee meeting on October 24, 2014, cancelled Latif Siddique’s primary membership for making derogatory remarks on Islam, the Prophet (SM) and Hajj. Latif, the lawmaker for Tangail-4 constituency, while addressing a gathering at Jackson Heights in New York on September 28 last year had said he was dead against Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat’s Ijtema, terming both congregations as sheer waste of money and manpower.

 

 

AL has no authority to oust me: Latif

Former post and telecommunications minister Latif Siddique has claimed that the Awami League (AL) does not have any jurisdiction to cancel his party membership for making controversial comments on Hajj. Latif sent a letter to the Election commission yesterday, stating that the decision to cancel his party membership has been taken based on wrong interpretations. Latif also urged the EC not to get involved in the hearing on the issue. The former minister said he would be grateful if the commission returns the letter to the Speaker of Parliament. The allegation brought against me for hurting religious sentiments is factitious and baseless. For the sake of argument, even if I made the comment, the Awami League Central Working Committee does not have any jurisdiction to cancel my membership because I went there (New York) as the peoples representative, and my statement will be considered as one made by peoples representative. There is no scope to consider the comment as coming from a member of the Awami League, he mentioned in the letter. So the decision to cancel my membership from the AL has been taken based on completely wrong interpretations, said the former minister. He claimed that the allegation brought against him by the AL is inconsistent with Article 66(4) and 70 of the Constitution and does not require an EC hearing. Article 66(4) states: If any dispute arises as to whether a member of Parliament has, after his election, become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Clause (2) or as to whether a member of Parliament should vacate his seat pursuant to Article 70, the dispute shall be referred to the Election Commission to hear and determine it and the decision of the Commission on such reference shall be final. Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, on July 13, had sent a letter to EC regarding the membership of Latif Siddique. After receiving the letter, the EC issued two letters to Latif Siddique and AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on July 16 in this regard. Both Latif and Syed Ashraful responded to the letters on the last day of submitting their explanation yesterday. Ashraful, in his letter, asked the EC to cancel Latifs membership. ALs deputy office secretary Mrinal Kanti Das told the reporters, Latif Siddique is not a member of the AL. He has legally lost the right to be a party member. On July 13, the AL had sent a letter to speaker Shirin Sharmin, saying, The AL has taken the decision to expel Latif Siddique from the party as per its party constitution. As he lost the primary membership, it will not be right to keep him as a member of Parliament. EC secretary Md Sirajul Islam told The Independent that he has received letters of Latif Siddique and the AL about their explanations and recommendations. Asked about the next step to be taken regarding Latif, he said, All matters will be scrutinised as per law. Replying to another query, he said, It cannot be said how long it will take to make a decision about Latif. AL snubs Latif claim When contacted, AL leaders said they rejected Latifs claim that the AL has no authority to expel him from the party. AL advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta said the party higher-ups definitely have the power to expel any party member if they fail to follow party rules and regulations. AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said, If the AL does not have the power to expel him (Latif) from the party, then who does? The ruling AL, in its central working committee meeting on October 24, 2014, cancelled Latif Siddiques primary membership for making derogatory remarks on Islam, the Prophet (SM) and Hajj. Latif, the lawmaker for Tangail-4 constituency, while addressing a gathering at Jackson Heights in New York on September 28 last year had said he was dead against Hajj and Tabligh Jamaats Ijtema, terming both congregations as sheer waste of money and manpower.