The Election Commission (EC) will publish the gazette on Thursday, declaring 49 candidates valid for the 50 reserved seats for women in the 13th National Parliament.
Returning Officer for the reserved seats and Joint Secretary of the EC, Md Moin Uddin Khan, disclosed the information on Wednesday at the Election Commission building in Agargaon, Dhaka.
He said that, in accordance with the Reserved Women’s Seats Act, 2004, the schedule was announced on April 18. As per the schedule, Wednesday was the last day for withdrawal of candidacy, from 9am to 4pm. However, no candidate applied to withdraw their nomination within this period. As the number of vacant seats equals the number of nominations submitted, the gazette will be published on Thursday under Section 12(2) of the Act.
He added that the list of 49 valid candidates has already been placed before the Commission and will be published in gazette form.
Moin Uddin Khan said that one candidate has filed an appeal with the court against the Commission’s decision, although the EC has not yet received any official information in this regard. In addition, Nusrat Tabassum has filed a writ petition and submitted a copy of the court order to the Commission. The court has directed the EC to accept her nomination paper and complete scrutiny within 72 hours. The Commission has begun the process in line with the court’s directive.
Asked what was meant by “disposal” by the court, he said it refers to accepting the nomination paper and conducting scrutiny in accordance with the law. Following verification, she may be included as a valid candidate or her nomination may be rejected in due course.
He further said that among the currently valid candidates, 36 are from the BNP and its allies, 12 from Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance, and one from an independent alliance. The full list of 49 valid candidates has already been published and displayed as a notice. Under Section 12(2) of the Act, the same list will be published in the official gazette on Thursday.
