With Chairperson Khaleda Zia jailed for graft and acting chief Tarique Rahman on a self-exile, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is signing the nomination forms for party’s aspirants for the Dec 30 election.
After selling and collecting nominations for the last five days, the BNP on Sunday (Nov 18) started interviewing aspirants at the party chief’s Gulshan offices.
Acting chief Tarique has joined the process of screening through video conferencing, which prompted the ruling Awami League to urge the Election Commission to look into whether the law allows a convict to take part in the process.
Candidates who emerged from the interview were seen with forms signed by Mirza Fakhrul.
According to the Representation of the People’s Order (RPO), the nomination form of political parties has to be signed by its president, general secretary and the nominated candidate.
“The nomination board has told all aspirants to file nomination with the election offices. It has also instructed candidates, except for those who get the ticket, to withdraw their nominations later,” Bilkis Islam, an aspirant for Nilphamari-4 constituency, said while speaking to Bangla Tribune.
According to the schedule of the general election, the deadline for filing nominations ends on Nov 28 while the last day to withdraw from the race Dec 9.