BNP's Tarique Rahman completes voters' list registration after return from exile

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday (December 27) completed the procedure to get his name included in the voter list and obtain a national identity (NID) card.

The BNP leader (60), two days after returning from over 17 years of self-exile in London, visited the Election Commission (EC) office in Dhaka amid heavy security. He provided fingerprints and iris scans for biometric enrollment, reported news portal tbsnews.net.

Will get NID in 24 hours

“Tarique Rahman has already filled out the online form and has come to complete the registration by providing his fingerprints and iris scan,” ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the National Identity Registration Wing of the Election Commission, told reporters.

Also Read: Why unrest in Bangladesh matters to India | Talking Sense With Srini

Kabir further stated that the BNP leader is expected to receive his NID card within 24 hours. Rahman's daughter Zaima also completed her registration formalities for the NID card.

Foolproof security arrangements were in place around the EC office premises, with members of the Bangladesh Army, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Ansar and police deployed in and around the area.

Name not in earlier voters' list

Bangladesh first introduced a voter list with photographs and biometric data in 2008 during the military-backed caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed that followed the 2007–2008 political crisis, reported Prothom Alo.

Also Read: Bangladeshi singer's concert cancelled as bricks, stones hurled at crowd

Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was a political prisoner at that time. After his release from prison, he left for London on September 11, 2008.

As the BNP leader was abroad at the time, he was not included in the voter list, and he did not return to Bangladesh during the subsequent Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League rule to register as a voter.

After the new voter list with photographs was introduced, the EC cancelled the previous voter list.

What expert said

Former Election Commission official SM Asaduzzaman, who was director of public relations at the EC Secretariat when the photo voter list and NID system were introduced, said Rahman did not sign up as a voter then, news portal bdnews24 reported.

Also Read: Will Tariq Rahman’s return reshape India-Bangladesh ties after Sheikh Hasina’s exit?

He, however, underlined that the law allows any eligible citizen to be included in the voter list at any time.

Bangladesh is going to the polls on February 12. Rahman will contest the upcoming election from his ancestral Bogura Sadar (Bogura-6) constituency, with BNP leaders already collecting his nomination papers on his behalf earlier this month.

Awami League slams move

Meanwhile, the Awami League, banned by the interim government from contesting the elections, has raised questions on the legality of including Rahman in the voters' list when the final list has already been prepared.

Also Read: Bangladesh unrest: Law and order failure led to Home Affairs adviser’s exit

In an article posted on its website, the party claimed Rahman is "receiving one privilege after another, with repeated violations of the law."

"After the announcement of the election schedule, becoming a new voter is legally prohibited; yet, questions have arisen about Tarique Rahman becoming a voter while that schedule was still in effect.

"Moreover, the day was a Saturday, a weekly government holiday. So how was the law followed, and under whose instructions?" it asked.

(With agency inputs)