A further 44 aspirants have regained their candidacy following appeal hearings against decisions made by returning officers in the 13th national parliamentary election. This brings the total number of candidates who have had their nominations restored through appeals to 397 over the past eight days.
At Saturday’s hearings, BNP candidate for the Cumilla-4 constituency Manzurul Ahsan Munshi lost his candidacy following an appeal filed by NCP candidate Hasnat Abdullah from the same seat. With this decision, the total number of candidates whose nominations have been cancelled now stands at three.
According to EC officials, Manzurul Ahsan’s nomination paper was cancelled over allegations of loan default.
More than 100 appeals were heard on Saturday. The hearings were attended by the Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.
Election Commission data show that a total of 645 appeals were filed with the commission challenging decisions made by returning officers. Of these, nearly 600 appeals have been heard over the past eight days.
The commission is scheduled to dispose of the remaining appeals on Sunday, the final day of hearings. Decisions on appeals related to dual citizenship are also expected to be taken that day.
Commission data further show that 112 appeals were heard on Saturday alone. Of these, 37 applications were rejected, 19 were kept pending, nine were not placed for hearing due to withdrawal, and applicants in two cases were absent.
BNP candidate’s nomination cancelled
The commission delivered its verdict cancelling the nomination of BNP candidate for the Cumilla-4 constituency Manzurul Ahsan Munshi on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier, NCP candidate Hasnat Abdullah filed an application with the commission seeking cancellation of Munshi’s nomination on the grounds of loan default. Following the decision, Munshi will now have to move the High Court to seek reinstatement of his candidacy.
Munshi had also filed a petition challenging the validity of Hasnat Abdullah’s nomination. However, the Election Commission rejected his application and upheld Abdullah’s candidacy.
In the initial scrutiny, returning officers cancelled the nomination papers of 723 candidates, leaving 1,842 valid contenders. Following eight days of appeal hearings, 397 candidates had their nominations reinstated, raising the current number of valid candidates to 2,239.
According to the election schedule, 20 January is the final day for the withdrawal of candidacies. The final list of candidates and the allocation of electoral symbols will be published the following day. Voting in all 300 constituencies is scheduled for 12 February.
