EC clears 80 candidates on first day of appeal hearing

The Election Commission has approved the candidacies of 80 aspirants allowing them to compete in the parliamentary polls after hearing their appeals against rejected nominations.

The candidates who are cleared for the Dec 30 election include more than 35 from the BNP, according to EC officials. The EC heard 160 of the 543 appeals on the first day on Thursday.

The commission rejected 76 appeals and kept the four others pending, EC spokesman SM Asaduzzaman said.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar, Rafiqul Islam, Kabita Khanam and Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury heard the appeals from 10am on the 11th floor of the commission’s building in Dhaka.

Among those cleared on Thursday is ex-Awami League MP Golam Maula Rony. He is vying for the Patuakhali-3 seat with the BNP’s ticket this time.

The returning officer rejected his nomination papers during scrutiny on Dec 2 for not having his signature on the affidavit.

“The commission has revived nomination of a number of our candidates. Now our satisfaction depends on that of Khaleda Zia,” said BNP leader AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, who represented Rony in the hearing.

The returning officers rejected the nominations of BNP chief Khaleda for three seats as the constitution bars anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison from elections.

The former prime minister is serving 17 years in prison in two corruption cases. She wants to contest for Feni-1, Bogura-6 and Bogura-7 constituencies.

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