Seventy-eight percent of the 50 newly elected MPs to reserved seats for women are highly educated, holding bachelor’s or master’s degrees, according to Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan).
The civil society platform revealed the findings at a press conference titled “Presentation of information on newly elected MPs of the reserved seats in the 13th parliament” at the National Press Club today.
Shujan Central Coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarker read out the written statement.
According to Shujan, 30 MPs hold master’s degrees and 14 are graduates. Among them, 32 are from BNP and 11 from the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance. The only MP from the independent alliance is also highly educated.
Two BNP MPs described themselves as self-educated, while another did not mention educational qualifications.
Among the 50 MPs, 13 are lawyers and 10 are businesspeople. Four are teachers, one is a service holder, and five are homemakers.
Shujan also said 74 percent of the women MPs come from families with assets worth more than Tk 1 crore.
According to the organisation, 37 MPs belong to millionaire families, including 27 from the BNP and 10 from the Jamaat-led alliance. Among them, 20 MPs have family assets worth more than Tk 5 crore.
The platform also found that the 10 highest-earning families among the reserved-seat MPs all belong to BNP lawmakers, while 10 MPs’ families have loans and liabilities.
Income tax information was available for 40 MPs, while 10 did not submit tax statements. Among those who submitted tax information, 13 MPs pay more than Tk 1 lakh in annual income tax.
Shujan said six MPs currently face cases and all are from the BNP. It also found that 21 MPs had faced cases in the past, while four had both past and ongoing cases.
The organisation also questioned the geographical distribution of nominations, noting that Dhaka division received 19 nominations while Rangpur division received only two.
Shujan recommended reforms to make the reserved-seat system more effective, including direct elections to reserved seats and mandatory nomination of women candidates in general seats to ensure greater representation in parliament.
