Voting in the reserved seats for women of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad will be held on March 14 next, said the Election Commission (EC) secretary Jahangir Alam.

He stated it following the 27th meeting of the commission held at Nirbachan Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on Tuesday (February 6).

The EC secretary said the candidates would submit their nominations to the returning officer from 9:00am to 4:00pm on February 18. The nominations will be scrutinised on February 19 and 20. Appeal against the scrutiny on February 22 while appeals will be resolved on February 24. The withdrawal of candidatures on February 25 while symbols will be allocated on February 27.

There are 50 reserved seats for women in parliament. On behalf of them, 62 independent MPs have already given authority to the Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to select MPs in the reserved seats. As a result, Awami League and Independent will be able to nominate woman MPs in 48 reserved seats, while Jatiya Party (JaPa) will be able to nominate female MPs in the rest two seats.

Awami League has already started selling forms among the nomination seekers.

According to the rules, election in the reserved seats for women must be held within 90 days after publishing the gazette of results of general election. Gazette was published on January 9 after voting on January 7. If it is taken into account, it is mandatory for the EC to hold election in the reserved seats of women by April 7 next though the EC has set the date of voting three weeks earlier as per the schedule.