EC declares NCP leader Nusrat Tabassum’s nomination valid for reserved seat

The Election Commission (EC) today declared the nomination paper of Nusrat Tabassum, joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), valid for a reserved women’s seat in the 13th National Parliament under the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance.

Returning Officer and Election Commission Joint Secretary Md Moin Uddin Khan confirmed the development to The Daily Star around 12:30pm.

He said Nusrat’s nomination paper was scrutinised at 11:00am and subsequently declared valid.

“Her (Nusrat) nomination will be placed before the Election Commission tomorrow. The commission will examine the legal aspects and decide the next course of action,” Moin Uddin added.

On April 8, the EC declared the election schedule for the reserved women’s seats.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the 50 reserved women’s seats was April 21.

On that day, Nusrat submitted her papers to the EC’s dispatch branch at 4:19pm -- 19 minutes past the deadline.

Consequently, the returning officer refused to accept her submission.

Nusrat later moved the High Court. On April 27, the court directed the EC to accept her nomination paper.

On April 29, the commission issued a circular saying that Nusrat’s nomination paper was accepted and the scrutiny process was scheduled for today.