The Election Commission has held off decision on BNP Chairperson’s appeal challenging the rejection of her all three of her nomination papers.
On Saturday (Dec 8), the election commissioners led by Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda heard all three of Khaleda’s appeal.
After the hearing, the EC kept the decision pending saying that the final decision will be given after a second hearing at 5pm Saturday.
The former prime minister filed nominations to run for polls in the Bogra-6, 7 and Feni-1 constituencies.
On Dec 2, the returning officers scrapped all three of her nominations on grounds of a High Court rule that rendered anyone with more than two years of jail sentence ineligible for the polls slated for Dec 30.
BNP is hopeful that if Khaleda gets a fair hearing, she will be cleared to participate in the election. However, should her appeal be scrapped, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will run for her Bogra-6 seat, Jubo dal President Rafiqul Islam Majnu in Feni-1 and Morshed Milton in Bogra-7.
During the final scrutiny of nomination papers in the 300 constituencies, the returning officers rejected 786 nominations out of 3,065 aspirants. The EC commission started hearing appeals since Monday (Dec 3).
The last day of the appeal hearing is Saturday (Dec 8) while the final day to pull out of the race is Sunday (Dec 9).