Tasnim Jara to appeal against nomination being rejected

Tasnim Jara has said she will appeal against the decision to cancel her nomination. This independent candidate for the Dhaka-9 constituency said the appeal process has already been initiated.

She made the announcement in a video message posted on her verified Facebook page today, Saturday afternoon. She later reiterated the same in a written statement sent to Prothom Alo. Tasnim Jara is a former leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

Following scrutiny, the returning officer today declared Tasnim Jara’s nomination papers invalid. Dhaka Division’s additional divisional commissioner (revenue), Md Azmal Hossain, confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.

Speaking over the phone, Md Azmal Hossain said that signatures from 4,300 voters were required, and this requirement had in fact been met, with even more signatures submitted. However, verification found that among the ten voters listed as proposer and supporters, only eight were voters of the Dhaka-9 constituency.

As the remaining two were not voters of that constituency, the nomination was cancelled in accordance with election rules. He added that she (Tasnim Jara) has the right to appeal.

Reacting to the decision, Tasnim Jara said she had submitted her nomination as an independent candidate in Dhaka-9 and that today was the day of scrutiny. Her nomination was not accepted at scrutiny, and they would appeal against the decision. She said the process has begun already.

She explained that the Election Commission cited the requirement for independent candidates to submit signatures from one per cent of voters in the constituency. They had submitted more than the required number of signatures.

From these, the authorities randomly selected ten names for verification. Verification confirmed the authenticity of all ten individuals. However, it was found that two of them were not voters of Dhaka-9 according to the Election Commission’s records.

Tasnim Jara said the two individuals believed they were voters of Dhaka-9. One lives in Khilgaon, an area that falls under both the Dhaka-9 and Dhaka-11 constituencies. The signatory believed he was a Dhaka-9 voter and signed accordingly.

In the other case, the national identity card showed the person as a Dhaka-9 voter. Several years ago, that individual had applied to the Election Commission in Shariatpur for an address correction but never received any update. Now, according to the Election Commission’s online database, the person is listed as a voter of Shariatpur.

Tasnim Jara said that there was no way for these two individuals to know which constituency they were officially registered in, and that the Election Commission has not provided any mechanism for voters to easily access such information.

Her husband, Khaled Saifullah, told Prothom Alo that to contest as an independent candidate, signatures are required from one per cent of voters in the constituency. Tasnim Jara submitted signatures from 5,000 voters for Dhaka-9 accordingly.

From these, ten voters were selected at random for verification. Eight were verified successfully, while one was found to be a voter of Shariatpur and another of Dhaka-11. However, at the time the signatures were collected, both individuals’ national identity cards indicated that they were voters of Dhaka-9, he added.

Khaled Saifullah said the two voters whose information discrepancies led to the rejection of the nomination have already provided a written statement regarding the matter. He added, “Tasnim Jara will file an appeal against this decision on the next working day.”

On 28 December, an official announcement was made regarding electoral seat-sharing between the NCP and Jamaat-e-Islami. However, when the discussions were nearing finalisation, Tasnim Jara resigned from the NCP on 27 December. She had been serving as the party’s senior joint member secretary and was also NCP’s nominated candidate for the Dhaka-9 constituency.

After resigning from the NCP, Tasnim Jara announced her candidacy as an independent candidate in Dhaka-9. A former student of Dhaka Medical College and the University of Cambridge in the UK, she collected signatures from 5,000 voters in just one and a half days.

Under the Representation of the People Order, an independent candidate must submit a list bearing signatures of one per cent of voters in the relevant constituency. After collecting the signatures, Tasnim Jara submitted her nomination papers on 29 December, the final day for submission.

Her husband, Khaled Saifullah, accompanied her throughout the signature collection and nomination submission process. He also resigned from the NCP last Wednesday, (31 December), where he had been serving as joint convener as well as head of the policy and research wing. Khaled studied law at the University of Dhaka and later completed postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in the UK.