Women's Reserved-Seat By-Election: the Election Commission Will Verify MPs' Signatures on Nomination Papers
The Election Commission (EC) has decided to verify the signatures of members of parliament who appear as proposers and seconders on nomination papers for the by-election to reserved women's seat-23 of the 13th National Parliament, which has been declared vacant. A letter has been sent to the National Parliament Secretariat seeking its list of MPs' signatures.
In its letter, the EC requested the Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat to have an official present, along with the list of MPs' signatures, during the scrutiny of nomination papers on 27 October. The step is needed so that proposers' and seconders' signatures and initials can be matched at the time of scrutiny.
EC Joint Secretary Md Moin Uddin Khan, who is the returning officer for this by-election, disclosed the information on Wednesday (21 October). According to him, the entire process is moving forward under the schedule announced by the Commission.
Under that schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers for this seat is 26 October. Scrutiny of the submitted papers will take place the next day, 27 October — and the signature verification will be part of that scrutiny.
Appeals against scrutiny decisions can be filed on 28 October, and appeals will be disposed of on 29 October. The last date for withdrawing candidacy has been set for 1 November.
After the withdrawal stage, election symbols will be allocated to candidates on 2 November. Voting will then be held on 12 November.
The seat fell vacant after Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti, a BNP MP from a reserved women's seat, gave up the seat. After her resignation, the Parliament Secretariat declared the seat vacant, making this by-election necessary.
Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti's name had come into discussion after an attack, looting and vandalism at the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur in the capital. Against that backdrop, she resigned on the Prime Minister's instruction, it has been learned.
In reserved women's seat elections, MPs play an important role as proposers and seconders, because the voters for these seats are essentially the members of parliament themselves. Verifying the authenticity of their signatures on nomination papers is therefore a sensitive part of the scrutiny process.
The EC's letter and its request for a Parliament Secretariat official to be present suggest the Commission wants to complete that verification on the basis of official records, so that any question over a signature on scrutiny day can be settled immediately.
Attention now turns to 26 October — who files nomination papers for this seat, and whose candidacy survives the signature verification at the 27 October scrutiny will determine the final candidate list for the 12 November vote.
