At least 33 ruling Awami League candidates, six of them are ministers,
are likely to be elected unopposed in the 10th parliamentary elections
as they emerged single candidates for the constituencies after the
scrutiny of
nomination papers that ended on Friday.
During the scrutiny that began on Thursday, the Election Commission
cancelled candidature of 260 candidates keeping 847 valid for the polls
scheduled for January 5, according to the commission’s draft list of
valid candidates.
Commission officials said that the number of candidates to be elected
unopposed could increase after the withdrawal of candidature on December
13.
The six ministers elected unopposed are Syed Ashraful Islam for the
Kishoreganj 1 constituency, Abul Mal Abdul Muhith for the Sylhet 1
constituency, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain for the Faridpur 3
constituency, Tofail Ahmed for the Bhola 1 constituency, Obaidul Quader
for the Noakhali 5 constituency and Hasan Mahmud for the Chittagong 7
constituency.
Immediate-past ministers Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir contesting for the
Chandpur 1 constituency, Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju for the Narsingdi 5
constituency and Dipu Moni for the Chandpur 3 constituency remained
single candidates for the constituencies and another immediate-past
minister Suranjit Sengupta also emerged the single candidate for the
Sunamganj 2 as his rival candidate, Jatiya Party’s Jamil Chowdhury, had
withdrawn his candidature.
The other candidates who emerged single contestants after the scrutiny
are HN Ashiqur Rahman for the Rangpur 5 constituency, Nuruzzaman Ahmed
for the Lalmonirhat 2 constituency, Omar Faruk Chowdhury for the
Rajshahi 1 constituency, Enamul Haque for the Rajshahi 4 constituency,
Abul Kalam for he Natore 1 constituency, Shafiqul Islam Shimul for the
Natore 2 constituency, Zunayed Ahmed Palak for the Natore 3
constituency, Md Ishaq Hossain Talukder for the Sirajganj 3
constituency, Mrinal Kanti Das for the Munshiganj 3 constituency, Sheikh
Helal Uddin for the Bagerhat 1 constituency, Mir Shawkat Ali Badsha for
the Bagerhat 2 constituency, AKMA Awal (Saidur Rahman) for the Pirojpur
1 constituency, Amanur Rahman Khan Rana for the Tangail 3 constituency,
Rezwan Ahammed Toufique for the Kishoreganj 4 constituency, Mamtaz
Begum for the Manikganj 2 constituency, Zahid Ahsan Rasel for the
Gazipur 2 constituency, Abdur Rahman for the Faridpur 1 constituency,
Morshed Alam for the Noakhali 2 constituency, Md Abdus Shahid for the
Moulvibazar 4 constituency, Md Ali Ashraf for the Comilla 7
constituency, AHM Mostafa Kamal for the Comilla 10 constituency, Nizam
Uddin Hazari for the Feni 2 constituency and Sheikh Afil Uddin for the
Jessore 1 constituency. They are all from the Awami League.
There has been no valid candidate for the Lakshmipur 3 constituency as
the commission invalidated the nomination of both the candidates,
including the one from the Awami League.
Article 19(1) of the Representation of the People Order 1972 stipulates
that where, after scrutiny under Article 14, only one person remains as a
validly nominated candidate for election as a member from a
constituency or where after withdrawal under Article 16 only one person
is left as a contesting candidate, the returning officer will, by public
notice, declare such candidate to be elected to the seat. The article
also says that if, after scrutiny, any candidate indicates that he
intends to make an appeal under Clause 5 of Article 14 against the
rejection of his nomination paper, no person will be declared elected
uncontested until the period prescribed for filling such appeal has
expired and no such appeal has been filed for, where an appeal is filed,
until the disposal of such appeal.
The nominations of 847 candidates remained valid after the scrutiny as
the returning officers cancelled nominations of 260 candidates. The
candidates whose nominations were cancelled in the scrutiny would be
able to file an appeal against the returning officer’s decision by
December 9.
A total of 1,107 candidates from 20 political parties, mostly belonging
to the Awami League-led ruling alliance, submitted nomination papers for
the 10th parliamentary elections with most of the political parties,
including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance,
boycotting the polls.
The validly nominated candidates could withdraw their nomination by
December 13 and the commission will then allocate the symbol among the
candidates on December 14, the day when the candidates will be able to
begin electioneering. (source)