EC will look into the matter if Jamaat seeks registration under different name: Info minister

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said if Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami apply for the registration under different name then it will come under the notice of the Election Commission (EC).

"The Election Commission will surely look into the matter," the minister said in response to a question from reporters at the Secretariat.

Hasan said any political party can apply to the EC to get registered and it is the EC which will decide whether any party will be given registration or not.

His remarks came amid reports that all leaders of newly launched Bangladesh Democratic Party (BDP) that sought EC's registration belong to Jamaat and its student front Shibir. BDP filed for registration on Wednesday.

In 2013, the High Court declared the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami with the EC illegal effectively banning it from taking part in general elections. In 2018, the EC formally deregistered the Islamic fundamentalist party as it failed to fulfill its prerequisites.

However, Jamaat is still operating as a legal political party amid calls from the secular forces to ban it for its role in the genocide during the Liberation War it vehemently opposed. 

However, on Wednesday, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said that Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami can get registered with the EC under a different name if they fulfill all the conditions.

Alamgir said the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami was cancelled as its charter was not consistent with the Constitution and the spirit of the Liberation War.