The BNP will begin distributing nomination forms on Friday (October 15) to aspirants seeking the party’s nomination for the by-election to the reserved women’s parliamentary seat vacated by BNP leader Ferdousi Ahmed Misty.
Nomination forms can be collected from the party’s central office in Nayapaltan, Dhaka, from 10:00am to 5:00pm on Friday.
The information was disclosed in a press release issued Thursday by BNP Assistant Office Secretary Mohammad Munir Hossain.
According to the release, the by-election to the vacant 323 (Women-23) reserved seat of the 13th National Parliament will be held on November 12, in line with the election schedule announced by the Election Commission.
Aspirants must submit their completed nomination forms at the same venue and within the same hours on October 17.
The Election Commission announced the by-election schedule on October 12 following Misty’s resignation from the seat.
According to the schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers to the returning officer at the Election Commission building is October 26. Scrutiny will be held on October 27, while the deadline for withdrawing candidacies is November 1. Voting will take place on November 12.
Under the law, only the BNP can nominate a candidate for the vacant seat, as Misty was elected as a reserved-seat MP with the party’s nomination. If more than one candidate contests, only MPs from the BNP-led alliance will be eligible to vote. However, reserved women’s seats are generally filled by a single candidate, making a vote unnecessary.
Misty resigned from Parliament on October 1 on the instruction of BNP chief and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman after she was accused of being involved in an attack, looting and vandalism at the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur, Dhaka.