Dhaka: The Election Commission is set to begin a nine-day process of hearing and disposing of appeal petitions challenging the acceptance and rejection of nomination papers. This action follows the expiration of the deadline for filing such petitions on Friday.

According to United News of Bangladesh, the Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, will tackle 70 petitions on the first day, Saturday, and aims to resolve all 645 petitions by January 18. The hearings will take place at Nirbachan Bhaban, commencing at 10:00 am each day. EC Director of Public Relations Ruhul Amin Mollik stated that petitioners are permitted to bring no more than two individuals into the hearing room.

The Election Commission has announced the hearing schedule for the initial four days. On Saturday, petitions numbered 1 to 36 will be heard from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, followed by petitions numbered 37 to 70 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The subsequent days will see petitions 71 to 140 addressed on Sunday, 141 to 210 on Monday, and 211 to 280 on Tuesday.

Officials from the EC disclosed that a total of 2,568 candidates submitted nomination papers by the December 29 deadline for the 13th parliamentary election covering 300 constituencies. During the scrutiny process, 69 returning officers, including two divisional commissioners and 64 district deputy commissioners, declared 1,842 nomination papers valid and 723 invalid. The Commission has been accepting appeal petitions against these decisions since January 5.

The EC announced the election schedule on December 11, setting the national election and a referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order for February 12, 2026. As per the schedule, candidates can withdraw their nominations until January 20, and the election campaign will commence on January 22, continuing until 48 hours before the start of voting at 7:30 am on February 10.