49 elected unopposed to reserved women parliamentary seats; gazette due Thursday

The Election Commission (EC) has unveiled that they have finalised the names of 49 winners for the 50 reserved women's seats in the 13th National Parliament and will publish the official gazette on Thursday, after no candidates withdrew nominations by Wednesday's deadline.

Returning Officer Md. Mainuddin Khan announced the decision at a briefing on Wednesday afternoon at the EC headquarters in Dhaka's Agargaon. 

With no withdrawals on the final day for candidacy pullouts and no additional contenders, the 49 candidates will be declared elected unopposed through the gazette, he said.

Of the 49, 36 are nominees from the BNP-led alliance, 12 from the Jamaat-e-Islami-NCP and 11-party alliance, and one independent candidate. 

The remaining seat is on hold due to a legal dispute over candidate Nusrat Tabassum's nomination, which is under review in the High Court.

Mainuddin Khan said the court has ordered the re-acceptance and verification of Tabassum's nomination paper. Once verified, a final decision will be made, followed by steps to fill that vacancy. 

Publishing the gazette for the 49 seats will complete the main election process for the reserved women's quotas, allocated proportionally based on parties' general election wins.