Bangladesh's former military dictator and Jatiya Party Chairman Hussain Mohammad Ershad was disqualified on Wednesday for contesting the next month's general elections as the High Court recently sentenced him to two years in prison in a corruption case.

Ershad filed nomination papers to contest from five constituencies in five districts including his home district Rangpur in northern Bangladesh, but the election officials Wednesday canceled his papers after scrutiny.

The High Court sentenced Ershad to two years' imprisonment in the Japanese boat purchase scam case on Dec. 14. Earlier in 1995, the Bureau of Anti-corruption accused Ershad of misappropriating 330 million taka (about 8.25 million U.S. dollars) in buying 520 boats and 10 water purification machines for relief operation.

A vacation bench of the Appellate Division on Tuesday asked him to surrender to the lower court before making any appeal to overturn the High Court's judgment.

According to Bangladesh's Constitution, a person shall not be eligible to be member of parliament if convicted for at least two years in a case of criminal offense involving moral turpitude. The copy of the High Court judgment was sent to the election commission offices.

Thousands of Ershad's followers burst out in protest in his hometown in northern Rangpur Wednesday afternoon ransacking the office of the deputy commissioner and damaging dozens of vehicles. A dawn-to-dusk strike is said to be enforced in northern districts of Rangpur and Lalmonirhat, the stronghold of Ershad, on Thursday.

Recently, Ershad joined the former opposition Awami League-led 14-party alliance of Sheikh Hasina. The opposition alliance alleged a conspiracy has been cooked up to prevent Ershad from contesting the election and thwart the alliance's victory in the polls slated for Jan. 22 next year.

The 14-party alliance also threatened countrywide agitation to protest the cancellation of Ershad's nomination papers.

Ershad captured power in a bloodless military coup in 1982 and ruled the country for nearly nine years with iron hand. He was forced out of power in a mass upsurge in 1990. Earlier, he had served six years in jail in different graft cases. A dozen of corruption cases against him are still pending before the courts.

Source: Xinhua