The Election Commission canceled the candidature of Awami League International Affairs Secretary Shammi Ahmed for the upcoming 12th national parliamentary election over the issue of dual citizenship. She submitted the nomination form for the Barisal-4 constituency.
According to sources, Shammi Ahmed holds the citizenship for both Bangladesh and Australia.
Returning officer and Deputy Commissioner Shahdiul Islam announced the cancellation of her candidature on Monday at 3.30pm in the district administration meeting room.
Shahidul Islam said: “According to the Representation of the People Order, 1972, an election candidate cannot hold dual citizenship. That is why, Shammi's nomination has been canceled.”
The returning officer informed that a total of 55 candidates had collected nominations in Barisal. While 45 of the candidates were declared valid, 10 aspiring MPs lost their candidature over different issues.
Apart from Shammi, the Zaker Party’s candidate Riaz Morshed Zaman Khan lost his candidacy for the Barishal-1 seat for not filing an affidavit and having no party nomination.
Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) nominated Barrister Albert Barai for the Barisal-2 constituency. However, he did not attach the court fee of Tk300 to the affidavit and did not fill out the party nomination properly.
Miraj Khan, the Bangladesh Congress nominee for the same seat, was canceled due to his loan default.
Except for Shammi, Asaduzzaman, the candidate for the Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijote for Barisal-4, was rejected by the party, and his nomination was canceled.
The candidature of Barisal-6 independent candidate Mohammad Shamsul Alam was canceled as a loan defaulter; the nomination of Zakir Hossain Khan was canceled as a loan defaulter in the absence of 1% voter support; and the nomination papers of Shahriar Mia, Noore Alam Sikder, and Humayun Kabir were canceled due to the absence of 1 percent voter support.
According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the deadline for submission of nomination forms was November 30.
A total of 2,741 nomination papers were submitted against 300 constituencies across the country.
A total of 30 out of 44 registered political parties submitted their nomination forms to contest the election.
Of the aspirants, the most, 298 candidates, are from the Awami League, 289 from JaPa, 230 from Trinamool BNP, 90 from JaSoD, and 82 from the BNM.
The scrutinization of nomination papers started on December 1 and continued till Monday.
The deadline for filing and disposing of appeals against the returning officer's decision is December 5-15, and the last date for withdrawing candidacy is December 17.
The returning officers will allocate symbols on December 18.
The 12th parliamentary election will be held on January 7, as per the schedule announced by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on November 15.