The number of candidates from Islamist parties has risen significantly in the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said on Thursday.
TIB also said that 59.41% of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) total candidates are in debt.
The findings were presented by TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman at a press conference organized by the Midas Center in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. He noted that more than 36% of candidates in the upcoming election belong to Islamist parties, the highest proportion in the last five elections.
The main report was presented by Touhidul Islam, Director of TIB’s Communications and Outreach Department. According to TIB data, a total of 51 political parties are contesting the election, with 1,981 candidates. Among them, 249 are independent, accounting for 13%, while 1,732 candidates are contesting under party symbols.
Over 25.5% of all candidates have some form of debt or liability, with the total debt amounting to Tk 18,868.52 crore. Although the number of debt-laden candidates is the lowest in the past five elections, the total amount of debt is the highest, including bank loans totaling Tk 17,471.67 crore.
TIB presented data from 10 political parties, highlighting that BNP has the highest proportion of debt-laden candidates at 59.41%, followed by independent candidates at 32.79% and the Jatiya Party at 26.97%.
No party met the 5% target for women candidates. More than 48% of candidates listed business as their main profession, while law and teaching were listed by 12.61% and 11.56% of candidates, respectively. Politics was listed as a profession by 1.56% of candidates.
Based on the current value of movable and immovable assets, 891 candidates are millionaires, and 27 candidates qualify as hundred-millionaires. Currently, 530 candidates face ongoing cases, representing 22.66% of all candidates, while 740 candidates (31.64%) had faced cases in the past.
TIB reported that total declared election expenditures of all candidates amount to Tk 463.7 crore, with an average of Tk 22.5 lakh per candidate. BNP reported the highest declared expenditure at Tk 119.5 crore, followed by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at Tk 80.6 crore.
Among candidates, 259 have spouses or dependents with higher movable assets, 118 have spouses or dependents with more buildings or flats, and 164 have spouses or dependents with more land.