BNP to interview women's reserved seat candidates from tomorrow: Rizvi

BNP will begin interviews tomorrow for candidates who submitted nomination papers for the reserved women’s seats in parliament, Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.

“The interviews will begin tomorrow at 3:00pm. They will also be held at the same time on Saturday,” Rizvi said while announcing the schedule to reporters around 5:30pm today at the party’s central office in Naya Paltan.

The interviews will be held at the BNP Chairman's office in Gulshan.

Members of the party’s standing committee, who also serve on the BNP parliamentary board, will conduct the interviews. BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will preside over the process.

Rizvi said candidates from Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Faridpur regions will be interviewed on Friday.

Candidates from Chattogram, Sylhet, Cumilla, Dhaka and Mymensingh will face interviews on Saturday, he added.

Party sources said nearly 1,300 aspirants bought nomination forms over three days seeking to become BNP candidates for the reserved women’s seats in the Jatiya Sangsad.

There are 50 reserved women’s seats in the parliament.

According to the Election Commission, the BNP alliance will receive 36 reserved seats, the Jamaat alliance 13, while independents together will get one seat.

Under the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is April 21, with scrutiny set for April 22 and 23.

Appeals may be filed on April 26, with disposal scheduled for April 27 and 28. The final date for withdrawal of candidature is April 29, while election symbols will be allotted on April 30. Voting will take place on May 12.