Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday urged the Election Commission (EC) to withdraw its proposed provision barring MPO-listed teachers from contesting local government elections and cancel the contractual appointment of an additional secretary to the EC Secretariat, alleging political affiliation.

A six-member Jamaat delegation, led by Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon and submitted a letter outlining the party's demands.

Election Commissioners Abdur Rahmanel Masud and Tahmida Ahmad, along with EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, were also present at the meeting held in the morning.

In the letter, Jamaat also urged the EC to consider its earlier recommendations on the proposed local government election code of conduct, which it had submitted to the commission on June 30.

The party said the EC had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Local Government seeking to declare teachers of MPO-enlisted educational institutions ineligible to contest local government elections.

If implemented, the provision would deprive several lakh teachers and employees of more than 30,000 MPO-listed educational institutions of the opportunity to participate in local government elections, the party said.

Jamaat argued that such a provision would be inconsistent with the principles of equality and non-discrimination guaranteed under Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution.

"We believe the proposed provision should be reconsidered and either withdrawn or amended so that the constitutional right of eligible citizens to participate in politics remains protected," the letter said.

The party also demanded the immediate cancellation of the recent contractual appointment of 67-year-old Md Shamsul Alam as an additional secretary to the EC Secretariat, alleging that he had links to a political party.

Jamaat said media reports regarding his alleged political affiliation had raised public concerns about the Election Commission's neutrality.

The delegation also included Assistant Secretaries General Dr AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad, Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair and Moazzem Hossain Helal, as well as central working committee members Jasim Uddin Sarkar and Shishir Mohammad Monir.