EC clears Afil, Monirul

The Election Commission (EC) has cleared Sheikh Afil Uddin and Monirul Islam, elected as Awami League MPs from Jessore district, of charges of violating the EC law. The EC on Sunday disposed of the issue after the two tendered unconditional apology. A gazette notification will be published later in the day declaring the two as elected after the signature of four commissioners, EC officials said. Afil was elected without contest from Jessore-1 constituency and Islam won the polls from Jessore-2 in the parliamentary elections on January 5. The gazette notification declaring them elected was not published because of the EC’s charges of violation of electoral code of conduct. The commission had issued show cause notices to the two candidates on Jan 7 asking them to explain within 10 days why their candidature should not be scrapped for their breach of code of conduct. Both replied to the notices on Jan 15. The candidates also filed writ petitions in the High Court. But the court sent the matter to the EC for settlement, according to bdnews24.com.