Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) claimed that around 90 percent of lawmakers elected in the 12th parliamentary election are owners over Tk one crore while 67 percent are businessmen.
The number of businessmen and millionaire lawmakers has increased in the 12th parliamentary election compared to the 11th national polls, SHUJAN, a nonprofit private organisation disclosed the data in a virtual press conference on Thursday (January 23).
While presenting the facts during the virtual press conference, Dilip Kumar Sarker, central coordinator of SHUJAN, said that the report has been prepared to analyze the affidavit data of the winning parliamentarians in the recently concluded national election.
A total of 200 members of the current parliament out of a total of 299 are businessmen by profession and the data shows 66.89 percent of the parliamentarians are businessmen, said Sarker.
Besides, a total of 185 members of the previous parliament were businessmen and it was 61.66 percent of the total parliamentarians, according to the SHUJAN.
According to the data, 269 lawmakers (89.97 percent) of the current parliament are owners of over Tk 1 crore while the figure was 247 (82.33 percent) in the immediate past parliament.
Taking part in the press conference, Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the civil rights organisation, said that the Election Commission does not verify the information provided by the candidates in their affidavit copies. However, the affidavits often contain false and misleading information, he added.
The purpose for which the court compelled the candidates to submit their wealth information in the affidavits is not being served, he said.
Responding to a query, he said that the recently concluded national election was held lopsidedly.
There are some preconditions for a credible election like level playing field for all political parties and maintaining the secrecy of the election results but these were absent in the 12th parliamentary election, he said.
BDST: 1625 HRS, JAN 23, 2024
MN/SMS
