65% of reserved women's seat nominees are millionaires: TIB

Nearly two-thirds of the candidates nominated for reserved women's seats in the 13th National Parliament are millionaires and highly educated, Transparency International Bangladesh has said.

An analysis of affidavits submitted to the Election Commission by 49 nominated candidates shows that around 65 per cent are millionaires, while more than 63 per cent hold postgraduate or higher degrees, TIB said in a press release on Thursday, April 30 .

Candidates for reserved women's seats are significantly ahead of directly elected members of parliament in terms of educational qualifications. About 63.3 per cent of reserved seat candidates possess postgraduate or higher degrees, compared to 50.7 per cent among general MPs .

Of the 49 nominees, 32 are classified as millionaires based on their movable and immovable assets, with 25 millionaires by movable assets and 14 by immovable assets alone. The combined value of immovable assets exceeding Tk 1 crore among these candidates totals Tk 66 crore, while movable assets amount to Tk 78 crore, bringing the combined total to Tk 152 crore .

Party-wise, 26 out of 36 BNP candidates (72.22 percent) are millionaires, while five out of nine Jamaat-e-Islami candidates (56 percent) fall into the same category. The sole candidate from Jatiya Ganatantrik Party is also a millionaire .

Professionally, the highest number of candidates (26.5 percent) are lawyers, more than double the rate among general MPs (11 percent). Businesspersons make up 22.5 percent, followed by homemakers (12.2 percent), teachers (10.2 percent), and those directly involved in politics (8.2 percent).

The study also found that at least three candidates possess over 100 bhori of gold ornaments, with one candidate alone owning 502 bhori.

Despite their wealth, 20.41 per cent of candidates carry some form of debt or liability, though this is considerably lower than among directly elected MPs, where indebtedness stands at 50.84 percent.

The average age of candidates for reserved women's seats is 52.17 years, younger than the overall parliamentary average of 58.5 years.

TIB noted that while the participation of highly educated women and professionals is a positive development, the strong influence of wealth and the dominance of certain professions in politics remain evident and could have long-term implications.