The Election Commission (EC) restored the candidacy of 20 more aspirants on the sixth and final day of hearing appeals on decisions regarding nominations for the upcoming 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election slated for January 7, 2024.
With those 20 candidates, a total of 275 aspirants got back their candidacy for the upcoming JS election.
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday restored candidacy of 20 more aspirants while rejected appeals of 62 other candidates.
However, on this day, the EC approved the appeal against the candidature of valid candidates of Faridpur-3 and Barishal-5 constituencies.
Independent candidate Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah‘s candidature of this constituency was cancelled as Awami League’s candidate for Barishal-5 constituency State Minister for Water Resources Colonel (retd) Zahid Farooq’s appeal was approved.
Awami League’s candidate Shamim Haque’s candidature in Faridpur-3 seat has been canceled as the appeal of independent candidate AK Azad has been approved.
That is, these two legitimate candidates have lost their candidacy in the appeal hearing of the EC.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal and other election commissioners announced the verdicts during the hearing of the appeals.
After being eliminated from the selection, candidates of Barisal-4 Constituency boat Shammi Ahmed and Cox’s Bazar-1 Constituency Salauddin Ahmed appealed to regain their candidature. But they failed in EC too. As the appeal is rejected, their nomination papers remain void as per the decision of the Returning Officer.
EC rejected the appeals of the independent candidate seeking the cancellation of the candidature of boat candidate Shahjahan Omar in Jhalkathi-1 seat, the appeal of Shamim Haque of seat seeking the cancellation of the candidature of the independent candidate AK Azad in Faridpur-3 seat and the appeal of Shammi Ahmed seeking the cancellation of the candidature of independent candidate Pankaj Debnath in Barisal-4 seat.
It upheld the candidature of Shahjahan Omar, AK Azad and Pankaj Debnath, whose nomination papers were declared valid in the selection by the Returning Officer.
According to the EC, 56 aspirants regained their candidacies on the first day of hearing on December 10 while 51 aspirants on December 11. On the third day of hearing, 61 aspirants got back their candidatures and 44 others regained candidacies on the fourth day of hearing on December 13. On the fifth day of the hearing on December 14, 43 candidates returned their candidatures and 20 aspirants returned their candidatures on the last day on December 15.
A total of 558 appeals were filed by aspirants. After hearing from December 10 to 15, the Election Commission cleared the appeals and validated the nomination of 275 candidates.
However, out of the total appeals, the Awal Commission rejected the applications of 283 candidates. These 283 candidates can appeal to the High Court to get their candidature back.
The EC announced the JS polls schedule on November 15. The last date for submission of nomination papers was November 30.
A total of 2,716 nomination papers were submitted against 300 parliamentary seats. At least 731 nomination papers were rejected during verification. A total of 558 appeals were filed with the EC to get back the candidature.
According to the 12th national parliamentary election schedule, the last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 17. After that, the number of final candidates will be known.
The returning officers will allot the symbols on December 18. The candidates will then go on the campaign, which will continue till 8:00am on January 5.
The 12th parliamentary election is set to be held on January 7, as per the schedule announced by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on November 15.