Jamaat meets Election Commission after a decade

In a significant political development, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is meeting with the Election Commission on Thursday (February 13) for the first time in over a decade. 

The meeting, held at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka, comes amid efforts to re-enter the electoral process and regain the party's legal status.

A six-member Jamaat delegation, led by Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar, included Assistant Secretary General AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad. 

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, along with Election Commissioners Md. Anwarul Islam Sarkar, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Tahmida Ahmed, and Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah, as well as EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, are also attending the meeting.

Before the meeting, Mia Golam Parwar told reporters, "We have come to the Election Commission to discuss various electoral issues with the Commissioners, including the Chief Election Commissioner. We will share our views and later brief the media."

Jamaat-e-Islami lost its registration with the EC on October 28, 2018, making it ineligible to contest elections. A gazette notification was issued that day, following a 2013 High Court ruling that declared the party's registration illegal under the Representation of the People Order, 1972. The EC had suspended Jamaat’s registration in 2013, after the court verdict.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Jamaat filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on September 1, 2024, seeking to restore its registration as a political party.