Only 1.7pc polls candidates are politicians; 58.71pc of the total candidates are businessman
Only 1.7 percent of 1,945 candidates contesting Sunday’s polls are politicians by profession, according to the affidavits submitted at the Election Commission.
According to an analysis of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan), 28 political parties contesting the polls have fielded 33 candidates who stated themselves as politicians in the affidavits.
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| ILLUSTRATION: BIPLOB CHAKROBORTY |
In comparison, 1142 candidates or 58.71 percent of the total candidates have identified themselves as a businessman.
In the affidavits, 121 candidates identified themselves with farming. 237 said they are service holders. 188 have stated themselves as lawyers and 18 as housewives.
The rest of the candidates said they are involved or were involved with professions such as teaching, journalism, military and so on.
Central Coordinator of the non-profit organisation Dilip Kumar Sarker unveiled the data yesterday at an online press conference.
The analysis did not elaborate on which party’s candidates were involved in politics.
The analysis found that most of the candidates of political parties and independents are contesting the polls as businessmen.
Of the businessmen candidates, 69.75 percent are contesting the polls as independents. 66.03 percent of the Jatiya Party’s candidates are businessmen while 64.15 percent of AL candidates are primarily a businessman by profession.
In 2018, 52.17 per cent of the total candidates were businessmen.
The Shujan analysis also revealed that the wealth of 1,945 candidates is worth Tk 13,620 crore.
Of it, Tk 7,561 crore comes from Awami League’s (AL) 265 candidates.
Regarding educational qualification, Shujan said around 33 percent of the candidates have master’s degree while 27 percent obtained honours, 13 percent got HSC and 7.7 percent passed SSC.
12 percent of the candidates are either self-educated or illiterate.
Source: Daily Star
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