Candidature of 57pc independent candidates cancelled

Candidature of 423 out of 747 independent candidates, who submitted papers to contest the 12th parliamentary elections, has been cancelled.

As such, some 57 per cent of the independent candidates has been dropped during the verification.

A total of 2,716 candidates submitted nomination papers in all the 300 constituencies across the country. However, nomination papers of 730 candidates were cancelled during the scrutiny.

Nomination papers of four Awami Legues and at least 30 Jatiya Party candidates were rejected during scrutiny.

The other rejected candidates are from other parties.

Candidates, whose nomination papers were cancelled, have started appealing to the election commission (EC).

Some 42 persons have appealed to the EC to regain their candidature. Many can regain their candidature through appeal.

At the same time one can appeal against the candidates declared valid. The deadline for revoking candidature following the settlement of the appeal is 17 December.

The final list of the candidates contesting in the 300 constituencies will be available after that. So far the number of valid candidates is 1,985.

According to the EC secretariat, nomination papers of almost all the independent candidates were rejected due to discrepancies in supporters’ signatures.

A candidate must submit a list of 1 per cent of the total voters in the constituency, who support them along with their signatures. The returning officers verify some of the signatures on the basis of random selection.

Default loan is another major reason for cancellation of nomination papers of candidates. Due to this, nomination papers of at least 105 candidates, including party-nominated and independent candidates, were cancelled.

Apart from this, nomination papers of several candidates were cancelled due to various reasons, including non-payment of various service bills, not submitting nomination papers properly, not giving correct information in the affidavit, not giving copies of income tax returns and not opening new bank accounts.

The ruling Awami League nominated candidates for 298 constituencies this time. Nomination papers of four of the ruling party candidates have been cancelled. Besides, the nomination paper of Bajlul Haque in the Jhalakathi-1 constituency was cancelled as the party chose Shahjahan Omar as party candidate at the last moment.

After the scrutiny, the number of Awami League nominated candidates stands at 294. The ruling party is yet to take any final decision regarding seat sharing with the allies in the 14-party alliance.

It will be finalised before the deadline of revoking candidature ends. In that case, many of the party-nominated candidates will be replaced by the candidates from the 14-party alliance.

The number of Awami League nominated candidates will further reduce then. 

The JaPa nominated 304 candidates in total. In some constituencies, there were several JaPa candidates. The EC cancelled the nomination papers of 30 JaPa candidates.

The number of political parties registered with the EC is 44. Several parties, including the ruling party’s main political rival BNP, are not taking part in the polls.

The EC said some 29 registered political parties are participating in the upcoming 12th parliamentary elections. However, the number of parties taking part in the polls may further decrease.

According to the election schedule, the deadline for appeal to the EC to cancel one’s candidature or to regain the candidacy ends on 9 December. After that the EC will settle the appeal through hearings from 10 to 15 December. A person can move to the court to appeal against the decision of the EC regarding the person’s candidature.

The EC said on the first day a total of 42 candidates have appealed to the EC, including Awami League candidate Nasirul Islam Khan in Kishoreganj-3 constituency and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) candidate Dali Sayantani from the Pabna-2 constituency, have appealed to the EC on the first day. Of them, 26 were independent candidates.

Speaking to the newspersons, chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said, “Any candidate can appeal to the EC challenging the decision of the returning officer. Appeals can be lodged against both those who have been declared valid and those who are declared invalid."

*This report appeared in the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu