The Election Commission (EC) upheld 18 candidates on the seventh day of appeal hearings against returning officers’ decisions on nomination scrutiny for the 13th national parliamentary election.
At the same time, 21 appeals were rejected and four were kept pending during Friday’s hearings, said a press release.
The seventh day of hearings began at 3:00 PM at the auditorium of the Election Commission Building in Agargaon, Dhaka, and continued until 5:00 PM.
During this period, a total of 43 appeals were disposed of. Of these, 18 appeals were accepted, 17 were rejected, and four were kept pending.
In addition, the commission rejected four more appeals filed against the acceptance of nomination papers.
The appeal disposal process will continue until Sunday (18 Jan).
According to EC sources, the eighth day of appeal hearings will be held on Saturday (17 Jan) from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the EC auditorium.
Appeals numbered from 511 to 610 will be heard during this session.
In total, 645 appeals have been filed with the Election Commission against decisions to accept or cancel nomination papers for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election. Of these, 176 appeals were submitted on the final day alone (9 Jan).
The EC accepted the appeals between 5 and 9 January.
Earlier on 4 January—the final day of scrutiny—returning officers and assistant returning officers across 300 constituencies declared 1,842 nomination papers valid and cancelled 723 out of a total of 2,568 nomination papers.
According to the election schedule, the deadline for withdrawal of candidacy is 20 January. The final list of candidates will be published and election symbols allocated by returning officers on 21 January.
Election campaigning will begin on 22 January and continue until 7:30 AM on 10 February.
Voting for the 13th national parliamentary election will be held on 12 February from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
NSA
