Tarique Rahman to become a voter on Saturday, no legal hurdles

Once his voter registration is complete, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman will not face any legal complications in running for the 13th parliamentary election, the Election Commission (EC) has said. The commission said that all necessary preparations and measures have been taken in this regard and the voter registration process will be finalized considering the situation and security.

On Thursday (December 25), Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarkar told reporters, “The Election Commission is ready, necessary arrangements have been made. I do not see any further complications in running for election after becoming a voter.” He added that two issues are being given importance in this regard—Tareque Rahman’s personal security and the security of the Election Commission building as a KPI (very important facility). Necessary decisions will be taken keeping these two aspects in mind.

The Election Commissioner said that a final decision has not yet been made on where Tarique Rahman will be registered as a voter—at his home or at the election office. He said, "It can happen in two ways based on the situation. Either method will be chosen and it will be announced in due course."

Earlier, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters that Tarique Rahman will become a voter on December 27. However, he said that since there is no opportunity to become a voter at the field level as per the general rules after the announcement of the schedule, the entire matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

It is worth noting that the schedule for the 13th National Parliament election was announced on December 11. As a result, discussions are now underway in the political arena about how and through what process Tarique Rahman will become a voter. Since he is a resident of Dhaka, his voter registration process is scheduled to be completed at the Dhaka Regional Election Office.

According to EC sources, former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia became a voter at the cantonment house at the last moment after the schedule was announced on November 29, 2008. Following that precedent, if everything goes well, Tarique Rahman can also be registered as a voter from his home.

After a long 17-year exile, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman recently returned home and announced his plan to build a future Bangladesh. Although he did not give details of the plan, he sought the cooperation of the people of the country in implementing it. After returning home on Thursday, he stood at the reception stage in the Three Hundred Feet area of ​​Dhaka and said, "I have a plan."

It is worth noting that being a voter is mandatory to participate in the 13th National Parliament elections. Anyone who is a voter in any constituency of the country will be eligible to become a candidate. The last date for collecting and submitting nomination papers for the upcoming February 12 elections has been set for December 29. Nominations have already been collected for Tarique Rahman in the Bogra-6 constituency. The necessary documents will also have to be submitted at the time of submitting the nomination papers.

Those concerned say that the Election Commission is fully prepared and all necessary arrangements have been made in the relevant election offices. Once the voter registration is completed, there will be no more legal obstacles to Tarique Rahman's participation in the elections - this is the idea of ​​the concerned circles.