Staff Correspondent

Around 57% of participating candidates in the upcoming 12th National Parliamentary Elections are businesspersons, marking a 21% increase over the past 15 years, said a report by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).

Moreover, there is an increase in the number of candidates earning one crore taka annually. A total of 164 participating candidates earn one crore Taka annually, according to the candidates' affidavits submitted to the Election Commission (EC).

TIB shared the report at an event titled "Election Affidavits Information: What Message Is It Conveying to the Public?", at its office in Dhaka on Tuesday.

“The rate at which the assets of the minister-MPs have been rising often seems unrealistic to me,” TIB Trustee Board Chairman Advocate Sultana Kamal said while addressing the event.

She also said, "Disparities in wealth have become the new normal in Bangladesh. However, this was not the spirit of our liberation war."

TIB prepared the report based on the analysis of the information given by the candidates in their affidavits submitted to the EC during the 9th-12th parliamentary elections.

Mohammad Touhidul Islam, lead of the research team presented the information at the press conference.

According to the report, 65.30% of the candidates participating in the upcoming election earn less than Tk one crore.

Besides, around 27% of the candidates are billionaires, based on the immovable asset value.

There are 18 candidates in the billionaire category, with the highest declared asset value reaching Tk 1,345 crore.

TIB Executive Director Md Iftekharuzzaman, other officials, and the members of the researcher team were present at the event among others.