Over 400 candidates regain candidacies after EC appeals

More than 400 candidates have had their candidacies restored after filing appeals against returning officers’ decisions to declare their nomination papers invalid for the 13th national parliamentary elections.

Following nine consecutive days of appeal hearings at the Election Commission (EC), which concluded on Sunday (January 18), the candidates regained eligibility to contest the polls. The restored candidacies account for more than 65 percent of the total number of appellants.

Meanwhile, despite their nomination papers initially being declared valid by returning officers, the EC cancelled the candidacies of four BNP candidates following appeals lodged by rival contenders. The affected candidates are Manjurul Ahsan Munshi of Cumilla-4, Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan of Cumilla-10, Sarwar Alamgir of Chattogram-2, and Talha Shahriar (TS) Ayyub of Jashore-4.

The ninth and final day of appeal hearings was held on Sunday at the Election Building auditorium in Agargaon, Dhaka.

Speaking after the hearings, EC Public Relations Director Ruhul Amin Mallik said that 63 applications were heard on the final day. Of these, 21 appeals against the cancellation of nomination papers and two appeals against the acceptance of nomination papers were allowed. A total of 35 appeals were rejected, including 18 against cancellation of nomination papers, 16 against acceptance of nomination papers, and one appeal seeking to uphold a cancellation order.

In addition, three appeal applications were withdrawn during the hearings, two were kept pending by the commission, and one appellant was absent.

According to EC data, appeal hearings began on January 10. On the first day, 51 candidates had their candidacies restored, followed by 58 on the second day, 41 on the third, 44 on the fourth, 73 on the fifth, 33 on the sixth, 60 on the seventh, 44 on the eighth, and 21 on the final day.

During the ninth day’s hearings, most cases involved loan default and dual citizenship issues. Of the 23 appeals related to dual citizenship, the commission cancelled the nominations of two candidates, deferred a decision in one case, and cleared 20 candidates to contest the election.

Due to absence at the hearing, the EC cancelled the candidacy of BNP candidate Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan of Cumilla-10 over a dual citizenship issue. Meanwhile, the commission deferred its decision on the candidacy of BNP candidate Kazi Shah Mofazzel Hossain Kaikobad of Cumilla-3 to verify his renunciation of Turkish citizenship. However, commission sources said his candidacy is likely to be upheld.