Khaleda Zia is disqualified from participating in any election, says Bangladesh Law Minister

New Delhi: Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq has clarified the confusion over Khaleda Zia’s involvement in the upcoming polls.

“Khaleda has been released from jail temporarily for medical treatment. Apart from that, her current physical condition is not suitable for politics,” the law minister said while speaking at an event in Brahmanbaria on Saturday.

Khaleda Zia is named in two corruption cases, the law minister added. “While one case has already been tried, the other one is still under trial. As per Article 66 of the constitution, she is disqualified from participating in any election due to being sentenced,” said Huq.

BNP demands for caretaker government

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Bangladesh’s capital in December 2022 to demand the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign and install a caretaker before the next general elections expected to be held in early 2024.

Hasina and her ruling Awami League party, which returned to power in 2018 for the third consecutive time, have repeatedly ruled out the Opposition’s demand, saying a caretaker government goes against the spirit of the country’s constitution.

An election-time caretaker government system was introduced in the constitution in 1996 to oversee national elections, but it was nullified in 2011 under Hasina through passage of a constitutional amendment and after the Supreme Court ruled the system was contradictory to the constitution.

The BNP boycotted the election in 2014, and the results of the vote in 2018 were disputed because of allegations of vote rigging by the ruling party, which won with an overwhelming majority.

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