Chittagong: The Election Commission Friday sent the list of candidates for the upcoming Chittagong City Corporation elections to Bangladesh Bank to check out any loan defaulter.

District election officials said among the nomination-paper collectors, 45 percent didn’t submit their nomination papers, perhaps for stricter rules.

“EC’s initiative increasing the amounts of security money to curb fake and dummy candidates saw success,” said one official, explaining the reasons for the truancy.

Sources said the District Election Office would examine the nomination papers finally within Saturday and Sunday.

The Election Commission scheduled Thursday as the deadline for submitting nominations. Eighteen nomination papers were submitted for mayor and 322 for councilor and 67 for reserved councilor seats.
 
The sources further informed that 51 aspirants collected nomination papers for the mayoral candidature, 733 for councilors and 119 for reserved councilors.

Farhad Hossain, District Election Officer, told banglanews24.com.bd that EC has taken initiative to hold back “fake and dummy” candidates through increasing security money.  “The initiative has primarily become successful,” he said.

He said they sent to the central bank the list of candidates and the bank would send it back with necessary information within tonight or tomorrow.  “If any candidate is proven defaulter, we will cancel his or her candidacy,” he added.

The Chittagong City Corporation election is scheduled for June 17.

BDST 0655 hrs May 2010
RDG/RS/MMA/MUA