Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) has published the official gazette declaring 49 candidates elected unopposed to the reserved women’s seats in the 13th National Parliament.
Returning Officer and EC Joint Secretary Md Moin Uddin Khan confirmed the information on Thursday.
He said a total of 53 candidates had submitted nomination papers. However, one candidate—Nusrat Tabassum—filed her nomination 19 minutes after the deadline. Among the valid nominations, 36 candidates from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance, 12 from the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, and one from an independent alliance were declared elected unopposed, and a gazette has been issued in their names.
According to the EC, since there was no more than one candidate contesting each allocated seat among the alliances, voting was not required.
Separately, the returning officer accepted the late nomination of Nusrat following a court order. Her nomination paper is scheduled for scrutiny on Saturday (2 May).
Meanwhile, discussions had emerged earlier regarding the cancellation of the nomination of another Jamaat alliance candidate and NCP leader, Monira Sharmin, due to not completing three years since retirement from government service. Amid this situation, Nusrat’s nomination was submitted hastily, though beyond the official deadline.
