NCP’s Nusrat Tabassum’s nomination paper declared valid

The nomination paper of Nusrat Tabassum, joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), for a reserved women’s seat in the 13th parliament has been declared valid by the returning officer.

Returning Officer Md Moin Uddin Khan informed journalists of this after scrutiny of nomination papers at the Election Commission building in Dhaka today, Saturday.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers was until 4:00 pm on 21 April. Nusrat went to submit her nomination shortly after the stipulated time that day, but the returning officer did not accept it then.

Later, Nusrat sought legal remedy, and the court directed the Election Commission to accept her nomination paper and take further action in accordance with the law. Accordingly, her nomination was accepted and reviewed.

Earlier, the nomination paper of NCP candidate Monira Sharmin was rejected during scrutiny. As she had not completed three years since leaving her job at the state-owned Krishi Bank, the returning officer declared her nomination invalid under the law.

On Thursday evening, the Election Commission published a gazette declaring 49 candidates elected to the reserved women’s seats of the 13th parliament.

Among them are 36 from BNP, 12 from the 11-party electoral alliance including Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), and 1 independent candidate.

Arrangements will now be made for the oath-taking of the members of parliament. Due to legal complications, the candidacy for one remaining seat has not yet been finalised.