Shawdesh desk:

The by-elections to the five vacant parliamentary seats of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers will be held on February 1.

The Election Commission announced the schedule of the by-elections on Sunday after a meeting.

The election schedule was finalised at a meeting of the Election Commission with chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal in the chair.

EC will conduct the by-polls to parliamentary seats — Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4, Bogura-6, Chapainawabganj-2 and Brahmanbaria-2.

The EC secretary said the candidates could submit their nomination papers till January 5. Returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers on January 8 and January 15 has been set as the last date for withdrawal of candidature.

On December 11, five, out of seven BNP lawmakers, submitted their resignation to speaker of parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, as part of their anti-government movement with a 10-point demand that includes dissolution of parliament.

The MPs who resigned were Md Zahidur Rahman, Thakurgaon-3; Md Mosharof Hosen, Bogura-4; Gulam Mohammad Siraj, Bogura-6; Md Aminul Islam, Chapainawabganj-2; and Rumeen Farhana, from women’s reserved seats.

Md Harunur Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3, who is now in Australia and ailing MP of Brahmanbaria-2 Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan could not submit resignation to the speaker in person.

The seven lawmakers sent their resignation through an email on the same day.

The parliament secretariat published a gazette notification announcing the parliamentary seats as vacant after their resignation.