122 alliance candidates set to be elected unopposed
The Awami League-led grand alliance needs to win in only 29 constituencies to form government for the second straight time as 122 of the alliance candidates are set to be elected unopposed in the 10th parliamentary polls slated for January 5. If the election schedule remains unchanged, voting will take place in 172 constituencies on January 5 as there is not more than one candidate in 128 out of 300 seats, Election Commission sources said after the expiry of deadline to withdraw candidature on Friday.
The AL-led alliance candidates are going to be elected unopposed as most of the Jatiya-Party (Ershad) candidates withdrew from the polls, which has already been boycotted by the BNP-led 18-party alliance over the demand for a poll-time non-party government.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said that the scope for an election with the participation of all political parties on January 5 is getting thin with the passage of time. He, however, said the polls schedule can be re-fixed if all parties reach a consensus on the issue.
The 128 candidates who are going to be elected unopposed include five from Jatiya Party (Ershad) and one from Jatiya Party (Manju) and the remaining 122 from the AL-led alliance–117 from AL, three from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) and two from Bangladesh Workers Party.
According to the Election Commission sources, these candidates are going to be elected unopposed after withdrawal by some candidates and cancellation of nomination papers of some others on different grounds.
An election commissioner preferring anonymity said, a total of 205 candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers on Friday and over 100 of them were from JP (Ershad).
They said that returning officers of the respective constituencies were likely to declare them elected unopposed on Saturday.
The EC Secretariat will publish the gazette notification on completion of the polls on January 5, the sources said.
Those who are going to be elected uncontested include Abdul Latif Siddiquee, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Abdus Shahid, Mohammad Nasim, AMA Muhith, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Syed Ashraful Islam, Abdur Razzaque, Obaidul Quader, Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Shajahan Khan, Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Dipu Moni, Hasan Mahmud, Advocate Qamrul Islam, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Fazle Noor Taposh, Promod Mankin and Meher Afroz Chumki from Awami League, Anawr Hossain Manju of JP (Manju), Rashed Khan Menon and Fazle Hossain Badsha of the Worker’s Party, and Anisul Islam Mahmud and Shariful Islam Zinnah of JP (Ershad), Hasanul Huq Inu and Mainuddin Khan Badal of JSD.
Meanwhile, the returning officers of Rangpur and Lalmonirhat did not accept the withdrawal of candidatures of Ershad in two seats (Rangpur-3 and Lalmonirhat-1) and GM Quader (Lalmonirhat-3) as their applications for withdrawal were not submitted in due process.
-With The Independent input
