If HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party does not participate in the 10th parliamentary elections on January 5, there will be candidates from only 16 political parties, out of 40 registered with the Election Commission.
EC officials said if the JP candidates withdrew their applications, around 150 candidates of the Awami League would be elected uncontested.
After Ershad’s directive on Thursday, JP’s MP aspirants have started withdrawing their nominations. Four ministers of the party have also responded to the call to resign from the interim cabinet, while two other ministers and an adviser are yet to decide their move.
Nomination papers of 215 JP candidates have been accepted by the EC. Of them, several leaders, including Ershad, submitted nominations for more than one constituency.
The party chief is yet to withdraw the three nomination papers he had filed. The deadline ends on December 13.
According to the EC report prepared after scrutiny, there are 847 candidates from 17 registered political parties. As many as 1,107 candidates of 19 parties submitted nomination papers. The EC yesterday corrected the list of parties contesting in the polls.
