Will Speaker do the right thing?

Journey of the country's parliamentary democracy began with an astounding record of lawmakers losing their seats.

As many as 19 members had lost their parliamentary seats in 1972 following their expulsion from the then ruling Awami League. They had been punished for violating party discipline. 

In 2014, the AL expelled its presidium member Abdul Latif Siddiqui from the party on charges of violating party discipline by making derogatory comments that hurt religious sentiments. He was also sacked from the cabinet.

Eight months after his expulsion, the AL in a letter on Sunday informed the speaker about it.

This move raises questions whether Latif would remain an MP after his expulsion from the AL.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury on Tuesday said she would take measures as per the law. To resolve the dispute, she may send the matter to the Election Commission.

An examination of the legal provision in 1972 and the current one will provide some food for thoughts. 

In the newly born country, the Constituent Assembly (Cessation of Membership) Order, 1972 had a stringent provision against Assembly members. According to the provision, if a member of the Assembly resigned or was expelled from the political party which nominated him during the election, his seat in the Assembly would become vacant.

Under this provision, 19 members lost their Assembly memberships as they were expelled from the then ruling AL.

The then AL-led government had opted for inserting this provision in the country's constitution to empower the party over its MPs. And this provision was included in the draft constitution in 1972.

But this move had triggered huge criticism back then. Some AL members of the Constituent Assembly had vehemently opposed the proposed provision for cancellation of parliamentary membership in the case of an MP's expulsion from the party. Some of them had given a note of dissent.  

"Nowhere in the democratic world, membership of Parliament ceases on the grounds of one's expulsion from a political party. Such cessation of parliamentary membership may be found only in a dictatorship where system of one party prevails," Hafiz Habibur Rahman, an AL member of the Assembly, had said in his note of dissent. 

In the face of criticism, however, the proposal had been dropped.

But the provision for vacating seats on the grounds of an MP's resignation from the party or violation of his/her party's decision or casting vote against the party in parliament was introduced in the constitution. This constitutional provision still remains in effect.

After the enactment of the constitution, the Constituent Assembly (Cessation of Membership) Order, 1972 ceased to have any effect. Since then nobody has lost his/her seat in parliament on the grounds of their expulsion from a political party.

There are two more instances of expulsions from political parties since the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991.

In November 2005, the BNP expelled its MP Abu Hena from the party for his remarks against the rise of militants under the direct patronage of a section of the party and the government.

The question was raised whether Hena would retain his membership in the then parliament after his expulsion from the party that nominated him in the election and he was elected on the party ticket.

Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar then announced that Hena would retain his membership in parliament.  Sircar ruled that: "There is no possibility of losing his parliament membership as he did not violate party's decision or cast vote against the party."

In the ninth parliament [2009-2013] again, Jatiya Party expelled its MP Golam Reza from the party for violating party discipline. But he did not lose his membership in parliament as then Speaker Abdul Hamid had followed the decision of his predecessor Sircar.

Now it depends on Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury whether she will follow her predecessors in deciding Latif's fate or she will create a new instance.

It can be cited that the day the AL cancelled Latif's primary membership, its General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam had said that as his primary membership was cancelled, his parliament seat would also be announced vacant.

If a new instance is now made, it will give the political party more weapons in addition to the article 70 of the constitution to rein in their MPs.

Relying on the words of Hafiz Habibur Rahman as he had said in his note of dissent in 1972, it can be said that the restoration of the system of scrapping membership in parliament for one's expulsion from party would result in party dictatorship.