The Election Commission has announced that a gazette notification declaring 49 candidates elected to the reserved seats for women in the National Parliament will be issued on Thursday.
The information was provided on Wednesday afternoon by Returning Officer and Election Commission Joint Secretary Moin Uddin Khan during a press briefing held at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon.
According to him, the schedule for the election to the reserved women’s seats was issued on 18 April under the National Parliament (Reserved Women Seats) Election Act 2004. As per the electoral timetable, Wednesday was the final day for withdrawal of candidature. No candidate withdrew their nomination within the stipulated deadline.
He stated that the number of nominations received matched exactly the number of vacant reserved seats. Since there was no contest in any seat, all candidates are to be declared elected unopposed in accordance with the applicable legal provisions. Accordingly, the Election Commission will publish the official gazette notification on Thursday.
Composition of elected candidates
The 49 elected candidates represent different political parties and an independent nomination. Their distribution is as follows:
| Category | Number of Elected Candidates |
|---|---|
| Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) | 36 |
| Jamaat-e-Islami, Nationalist Citizen Party and allied 11-party alliance | 12 |
| Independent candidate | 1 |
| Total | 49 |
Returning Officer Moin Uddin Khan further informed that two candidates have filed appeals before the court. He noted that the Election Commission has not yet received detailed information regarding one of the appeals. In another case, a writ petition filed by candidate Nusrat Tabbassum has already been disposed of, and the judgement has been received by the Commission.
He added that the court has directed that the nomination issue relating to this candidate be accepted and resolved within 72 hours. The Election Commission is acting in accordance with the court’s directive and is taking necessary administrative steps to comply with the order.
The Commission emphasised that all procedures have been conducted under the provisions governing the reserved women’s seats election. Since the number of nominations equalled the number of vacant seats and no withdrawal took place within the deadline, the election process did not require a contested vote. Consequently, the formal declaration of elected members will be completed through the publication of the gazette notification.
Following the gazette publication, the elected members are expected to proceed with formal parliamentary induction in accordance with established constitutional and procedural requirements.