Acting ameer (president) of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Maqbul Ahmed is likely to become the full-time party chief as about 40,000 rokons (members) cast their ballots to elect their top leader, according to party leaders. Requesting anonymity, a city Jamaat leader said senior Jamaat leaders held a meeting in Saudi Arabia last month during Ramadan and decided to elect the party’s top leaders through secret ballots. There was speculation over a change in the name of the party and the importance of young leadership at the centre to replace the old guard, particularly following the execution of top leaders on charges of war crimes. The party finally decided to elect its top leaders without making any major reshuffle in the party, said the leader.
Some Jamaat leaders indicated that Maqbul Ahmed was set to be elected as the new full-time ameer of the largest Islamic party in the country as most of the leaders want him as the party chief in the greater interest of the party. Elections in divisional cities were held on Wednesday while at 83 organisational districts on Friday maintaining secrecy in the voting process. If Maqbul is elected, he will replace Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was hanged on May 11 this year on charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. The post of Jamaat ameer fell vacant after Nizami was executed. Once he becomes the ameer, Maqbul, 70, will be the first Jamaat ameer having no war crimes allegations against him.
Following the election of the ameer, the 277-member majlish-e-sura, the highest policy making body of the party, formed the three-member panel for the post. The panel members are acting ameer Maqbul Ahmed, nayebe (deputy) ameer and former lawmaker Prof. Mujibur Rahman and acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman, the city-based Jamaat leader said.
A seven-member election commission, led by executive member ATM Masum, has conducted the election while the result is likely to be announced within a week.
After the election commission, the majlish-e-sura will elect the party’s secretary general by preparing another panel from the party leadership, said the party leaders, said the leader.
A thana-level Jamaat leader said they expected that Maqbul Ahmed to going to win the polls as most of the rokons considered him an untainted leader.
He, however, said the rokons were free to cast their ballots. And that is why nayebe ameer Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, who has been serving life imprisonment on charges of crimes against humanity, and young leader Barrister Abdur Razzak, may also receive many votes as they have a huge following in the party, he added.
The Jamaat leader said assistant election commissioners collected votes of rokons physically from the districts.
Maqbul has been working as the acting ameer of the Jamaat for about seven years following the arrest of Jamaat ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami on June 29, 2010.
Dr Shafiqur Rahman was made acting secretary general of the party the same day following the arrest of secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mujaheed, who was executed on November 21 last year on war crime charges.
Both Nizami and Mujaheed were the first elected party ameer and secretary general respectively through direct ballots of party rokons in 2001. They were re-elected for the last time in 2009 and there was no election following their arrests only a year after their re-election, according to party sources.
Section 2 of Article 15 of the party constitution says the ameer is elected by direct votes of rokons on a three-year term. Section (6/ka) of Article 15 says if the ameer is unable to function for six months, he will appoint the acting ameer from the ranks of nayebe (deputy) ameers of the party in consultation with the central executive committee members.
The Jamaat has been passing through its worst-ever period in recent times following the execution of its top brass, and it is not allowed to carry out any political activity publicly. The Jamaat emerged as a political party in Bangladesh after the ban on Islamic political parties was lifted in 1976. The party won 18 seats in parliamentary elections in 1991. Their seat strength was reduced to three during the 1996 elections and the party won only two seats in the 2008 polls. The then Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan strongly opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the break-up of Pakistan. It collaborated with the Pakistani army in its operations against Bengali nationalists and pro-Liberation intellectuals during the War of Liberation.