Deadline for submitting nominations to reserved women’s seats ends today

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the reserved women’s seats in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad will end today (21 April), according to the Election Commission (EC).

As of yesterday, five leaders of the BNP have submitted their nomination papers. So far, a total of 464 aspirants have collected nomination papers.

EC sources said that out of the 50 reserved women’s seats allocated proportionately based on parliamentary representation, BNP will get 36 seats, Jamaat alliance 13 seats and one seat will go to an independent lawmaker.

Apart from the five BNP candidates, no other party has yet submitted nomination papers. However, nomination forms have been collected for 13 seats by the Jamaat-e-Islami led alliance, one by Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, and one by the Labour Party (Jamaat alliance).

According to the EC declared schedule, the last date for submission of nomination papers is today, while scrutiny will be held on Wednesday and Thursday. Appeals can be filed on 26 April, with disposal on 27 and 28 April. 

The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is 29 April, symbol allocation on 30 April and voting will be held on 12 May.

EC officials said that if political parties nominate candidates equal to the number of seats allocated to them, no election will be required for the reserved women’s seats. So far, there has been no record of an election being held for these seats.