48 women to be elected MPs unopposed

Forty-eight women will be elected members of parliament (MP) from reserved seats on Wednesday afternoon as they have no rival, and none of aspirants pulled out of the polls race either by Tuesday evening, the last date for the withdrawal of candidature. “No one of the 48 female MP candidates from the reserved seats withdrew the candidature. They’ll be declared elected uncontested today,” assistant returning officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed has said. The gazette of the elected MPs will be published after 4-5 days, said Mihir, also deputy secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat. However, the EC will require to declare a fresh schedule for election to two more women seats as the candidature of an Awami League-nominated candidate Sabiha Nahar Begum and that of Jatiya Party-nominated Khorshed Ara Hoque have been cancelled on charge of telephone bill default, he said. Of the 48 candidates, the largest number of 38 has been nominated by the AL, while five by HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party (JP), three by a coalition of 16 independent lawmakers and one each by Workers Party and Jasad, according to UNB.