A meeting between BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and former chief election commissioner (CEC) Justice MA Aziz on Tuesday made many of the party leaders and workers aggrieved, and they viewed that the party should not entertain a 'controversial' figure like him.
Speculating that the former CEC is seeking BNP nomination for the upcoming parliamentary election, party workers felt his meeting with Khaleda Zia would hurt the party's image. “Aziz is one of the persons who pushed BNP to its present crisis,” said a member of the party's central executive committee.
Aziz had to resign on January 21 last year under pressure from the military-backed caretaker government. After 21 months of silence, he met the BNP chairperson on Tuesday at her cantonment residence apparently as a 'courtesy call'. Party sources said he expressed his interest in getting nomination from Barisal-1 constituency.
The former CEC's move has created a negative impact among BNP men in that constituency. Zahiruddin Swapan, former BNP lawmaker from Barisal-1, says, “The chairperson will not give party ticket to any controversial person who will be a burden to the party instead of bringing its victory.”
Though a judge by profession, Aziz's role as the CEC clouded the country's politics, pushing the nation to a state of confrontation over the parliamentary election that eventually led to a change of the caretaker government last year.
Aziz assumed the office of CEC on May 23, 2005, during the BNP-led alliance government's tenure, while retaining his post of a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. He appeared to be loyal to Khaleda Zia although he was oath-bound to carry out his job neutrally.
He had justified his biased actions as CEC saying, he attempted to perform his duties with 'sincerity and dedication'. "I have done my best to ensure the holding of free, fair and impartial elections in accordance with the constitution,” he said in a statement released after his resignation.
Aziz fuelled widespread controversies by preparing a fresh voter list ignoring a higher court directive. Awami League and its allies alleged that he planted fake voters in the list to favour the BNP-led alliance in the January 22, 2007 election (stalled later).
The 2006 voter list prepared under Aziz puts the total number of voters at 9.24 crore, whereas the latest voter list prepared by the army puts the total at 8.11 crore. This leaves a big question about a staggering number of 1.13 crore voters. The nation spent at least Tk 60 crore for preparing the voter list and another Tk 15 crore for its printing.
Earlier, on December 12 last year, (after the resignation of Aziz) the High Court (HC) declared "illegal" the appointment of Justice Aziz as CEC, sealing the scope for government to allow any chosen person to concurrently hold two constitutional posts.
The HC on June 18 in 2005, following a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition, had issued a rule upon Aziz, the Election Commission (EC) and the government to explain why Aziz's holding the office of CEC alongside being a sitting Supreme Court judge 'should not be declared illegal'.
Aziz resigned last year citing a major political alliance's lack of confidence in him and to avert further political unrest in the country. Earlier, when the AL and its allies continued demanding his resignation, he went on leave from November 22. Prior that, he had repeatedly told the media that he did not find any reason to quit his responsibility.
He had received strong support from the then ministers Moudud Ahmed and Nazmul Huda. Both of them appreciated his activities at that time. Even, they allegedly helped him ensure appointment of 303 leaders, workers and supporters of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of BNP, as upazila election officers. But the present EC dropped 85 of the 303 as they could not qualify in a test arranged by the commission.
Political parties except BNP and its allies rejected the 2006 voter list and demanded resignation of Aziz, saying that he and his associates were working in favour of the BNP-led alliance.
Finally, Aziz agreed to resign as the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed created pressure on him to implement its plan to reconstitute the EC to make it acceptable to all.