Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) has announced the schedule for the by-election to the reserved women’s seat in the 13th Parliament that fell vacant following the resignation of Ferdousy Ahmed Mishti, setting November 12 as voting day.
An official notification signed by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was issued on Monday, declaring the by-election schedule.
According to the schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers to the returning officer at the Nirbachan Bhaban is October 26.
The nomination papers will be scrutinized on October 27, while the last date for withdrawal of candida-ture is November 1. Voting will be held on November 12.
Mishti was elected as a lawmaker from a reserved women’s seat with nomination from the BNP. Under the law, only the BNP can nominate a candidate for the vacant seat.
If more than one candidate contests the election, only lawmakers from the BNP alliance will be eligible to vote. However, reserved women’s seats generally have a single candidate, requiring no voting.
Mishti resigned from her parliamentary seat on October 1 following instructions from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman amid allegations that she was involved in an attack, vandalism, looting and demolition at the Radda MCH-FP Centre, a maternal and child healthcare facility in Mirpur, Dhaka, on September 24.
