The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday announced a fresh election schedule for the Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies, setting polling for 12 February in line with an order of the Appellate Division.
The schedule was declared after cancelling the previous one announced on 11 December, in compliance with the court order issued on Thursday, according to an EC notification.
Under the new schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is 18 January, scrutiny will take place on 19 January, and the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is 26 January.
Appeals against the returning officers’ decisions on the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers may be filed with the EC from 20 to 24 January.
The EC will hear and dispose of any appeals on 25 January, while electoral symbols will be allocated on 27 January.
Voting will be held from 7:30am to 4:30pm on 12 February, simultaneously with elections in the remaining 298 constituencies across the country and the referendum.
The EC had earlier suspended the elections in the Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies pending further directives from the court.
An EC circular issued on 6 January and made public on 10 January suspended polling in the two constituencies in line with an Appellate Division order dated 5 January, following a dispute over the demarcation of the constituencies—No 68 (Pabna-1) and No 69 (Pabna-2).
On 15 January, the Appellate Division cleared the way for elections in Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 to be held on 12 February, in accordance with the boundaries specified in the EC’s 4 September gazette.
The order was passed by an Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.
Under the order, Sathia upazila will constitute the Pabna-1 constituency, while Sujanagar and Bera upazilas will form Pabna-2.
