WOMEN RESERVED SEATS IN JS
Nomination submission closes today
Staff Correspondent
The submission of nomination for elections to the 45 reserved seats for women in the parliament, according to the revised schedule, closes today.
The returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers on March 15 at the Election Commission secretariat. The last date for the withdrawal of the candidature is March 19 and the elections to the 45 reserved seats are scheduled for March 30.
The three major political parties, to which reserved seats were allocated on the basis of their proportionate representation in Jatiya Sangsad, have already collected nomination forms from the commission secretariat.
The Awami League got an allocation of 36 seats, Jatiya Party 4, and BNP-led combine 5, in proportion to the strength of the parties in the parliament.
The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party announced the names of their candidates for the reserved seats. The Jatiya Party till Wednesday evening did not disclose the names of its candidates.
According to the Jatiya Sangsad (Reserved Seats for Women) Election Act 2004, political parties and alliances will select and nominate their candidates. If the number of candidates nominated by a party matches that of its quota, its nominees will be declared elected uncontested. But if the number of nominations exceeds the quota, the commission will go for a single transferable vote for the elections in which only the lawmakers of the party will participate.
The law also lays out a formula to count the single transferable vote. If a party nominates candidates fewer than its quota or nominates no candidate, the commission will set another date for polls to the seats and all the lawmakers will be allowed to nominate candidates and vote.
Courtesy of www.newagebd.com
