EC yet to get spending reports of candidates
The Election Commission is yet to receive electoral expenditure statements of about the one third of the candidates who contested in the January 5 national polls.
Out of 543 candidates, the EC has received expenditure statements of around 175 candidates, said EC sources.
Officials of the EC Secretariat said they were not sure whether the candidates had submitted their expenditure statements or not because the statements would have to be submitted to the returning officers and a copy would be sent to the commission.
The EC on Wednesday directed all the returning officers of January 5 polls to prepare list of candidates who have not submitted their expenditure statements and what legal action have been taken against them.
As per electoral law, all contesting candidates have to submit their electoral expenditure statements to the respective returning officers of each constituency within 30 days of publishing the election result in official gazette. The officers will send a copy to the EC.
If any candidate violates the law, he or she will face a punishment of two to seven years' imprisonment along with paying financial penalties, according to the law.
Although the 30-day deadline expired more than two months ago, the EC has no concrete information on how many candidates have submitted expenditure statements.
The returning officers have been asked to provide the information to the commission by April 30, according to a letter signed by Mizanur Rahman, senior assistant secretary of the EC Secretariat.
"It may be that many candidates submitted their expenditure statements to their respective returning officers, but the copy is yet to reach the commission. That is why we have directed the returning officers to give proper information," Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star.
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