Nearly half of the candidates who appealed with the Election Commission challenging the decisions of the returning officer to reject their nominations got back their candidacies for the 12th parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for January 7.
During the six days of hearings presided over by Chief Election Commission Kazi Habibul Awal, 275 out of 558 candidates reclaimed their candidacies.
As of right now, there will be 2260 candidates running for 300 seats in the election, as the 1985 candidates were already ruled legitimate. Up to December 17, candidates may still withdraw from the race.
On the final day of hearings at Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka, twenty of the candidates retook their candidacies.
According to the EC, on the first day of the appeal hearing, 56 candidates reaffirmed their candidacies, followed by 51 on the second, 61 on the third, 44 on the fourth, 43 on the fifth, and 20 on the last day.
A total of 32 appeals were submitted to the EC challenging the valid decision of the RO while the candidacy of some aspirants were declared invalid in the hearing.
A total of thirty-two appeals were filed with the EC contesting the legitimacy of the RO`s ruling, and during the hearing, the candidacies of certain candidates were ruled illegal.
Three Awami League candidates, Shammi Ahmed in Barishal-4, Shamim Haque in Faridupur-3, Salahuddin Ahmed in Cox`s Bazar-1, and independent candidate Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah in Barishal-5, had their candidacies were finally declared invalid by the EC
Of them, Salahuddin Ahmed`s application was turned down due to debt default, while the candidacies of Shammi, Shamim, and Serniabat were denied due to their dual citizenship.
