Tarique Rahman Faces Tight Deadline: Must Return to Bangladesh and Register as Voter Before Election Schedule

A complex legal and temporal challenge has emerged regarding the participation of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in the upcoming 13th National Parliament Election. Although party sources have indicated he might return to the country by the end of the current month (November), to be eligible to run as a candidate, he must first return to the government and register his name in the voter list before the Election Commission (EC) announces the schedule.

According to EC sources, the election schedule is likely to be announced in the first week of December. Once the schedule is announced, the process for new voter registration is halted, placing Tarique Rahman’s plan to return and participate in the election under a strict and difficult deadline.

Key Challenges and Facts:
The Main Challenge: To contest the election, Tarique Rahman must return to the country and become a voter before the schedule is announced in the first week of December.

Reason for Non-Voter Status: He and his wife were unable to register as voters during the preparation of the photo-ID voter list in 2008 because they were living in London at the time.

Complex Process After Schedule: To become a voter after the schedule is announced requires special court permission and the unanimous decision of all five Election Commissioners, making the process extremely complicated.

Candidacy Announcement: The BNP has already announced candidates for 237 constituencies, with Tarique Rahman slated to contest the Bogra-6 seat.

Detailed Account:
Must Be a Voter Before the Schedule. According to the Election Commission’s regulations, from the date the schedule is announced until the election, the voter list is considered final, and the inclusion or transfer of new voters is completely suspended during this period. For Tarique Rahman to contest the election, he must obtain a photo-ID National Identity Card (NID) and a voter number as a citizen of Bangladesh.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed recently stated that Tarique Rahman may return by the end of November. Conversely, Election Commissioner Md. Anwarul Islam Sarkar has indicated that the schedule will be announced in the first week of December. Given these two timeframes, Tarique Rahman will have only a few days after his return to complete the voter registration process.

The 2008 Complication. The first photo-ID voter list was prepared in 2008 during the tenure of the caretaker government. At that time, both Tarique Rahman and his wife, Dr. Zubaida Rahman, were in London, which resulted in their names not being included in the voter list. Although Dr. Zubaida Rahman completed her voter registration process a few months ago after returning to the country, Tarique Rahman remains unregistered.

Voter Registration After Schedule is ‘Extremely Complex’. Sources from the National Identity Registration (NID) wing’s expatriate branch indicate that while voter registration for expatriates in the UK is active (London, Birmingham, and Manchester), Tarique Rahman has not submitted an application there. The EC has been informed that he will return to Bangladesh to register as a voter.

If, for any reason, Tarique Rahman fails to register as a voter before the schedule is announced, his path to participating in the election will be almost completely blocked. An NID official, speaking to the media on condition of anonymity, stated that becoming a voter after the schedule is announced is “nearly impossible.” The official explained, “To become a voter after the schedule, a special declaration from the court is required. Furthermore, a meeting of the Election Commission’s Full Bench (all five commissioners) must be held, and all commissioners must agree unanimously in that meeting. If even one of the five commissioners disagrees, he will not be able to become a voter.”

The BNP has already announced its preliminary candidate list for 237 constituencies in the upcoming election, including Tarique Rahman’s nomination for the Bogra-6 seat. However, meeting this legal obligation regarding the voter list is essential for his nomination to be finally validated.

Overall, Tarique Rahman’s electoral future hinges on his return to the country and the completion of the voter registration process during this critical “opportune moment” just before the election schedule is declared.