The election commission (EC) in Bangladesh yesterday fixed March 29 as voting date for the 50 parliamentary seats reserved for women.
Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said the deadline for submission of nomination papers is March 4, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 12.
The CEC said the Awami League-led six-party alliance will contest for 41 seats, while Jatiya Party for six seats and the coalition of independent
candidates for three seats.
According to the statute, the number of reserved seats of women is allocated among the political parties and the alliance as per the proportion of their representation in
parliament.
Out of the 300 parliamentary seats, three - Jessore-1 and 2 and Tangail-8 - this time remain vacant following the January 5
parliamentary polls.
Awami League (AL) has recently forged the six-party parliamentary alliance and submitted a list of their 248 MPs to the commission to contest the
election as a coalition.
In the 10th parliament, ruling AL-led alliance has representation of 248 MPs - AL 232, Workers’ Party 6, Jasad 5, Anwar Hossain Monju-led Jatiya Party-JP 2, Tarikat Fedaration 2 and BNF 1 - while Jatiya Party has 34 MPs, and the rest 15 are independent MPs.
In the AL-led alliance, the ruling AL will get 37 reserved seats, while its partners Workers Party and Jasad will get two seats each.
The EC joint secretary has been appointed the returning officer, while the deputy secretary assistant returning officer. Besides, EC senior assistant secretaries have been appointed
polling officers.
Meanwhile, the by-election to Tangail-8 parliamentary constituency was deferred to March 29 from March 23. But the previous schedule for nomination submission, the date for the scrutiny of nomination papers and the last date for the withdrawal candidature will remain unchanged, the CEC said.
About the legal complication regarding the winning candidate Sheikh Afiluddin of Jessore-1 and Monirul Islam of Jessore-2, Rakibuddin said, “The higher court has asked us to continue the legal proceedings taken by the commission. But we’ve not yet get then certified copy of the court’s judgment.”