Dhaka, Bangladesh — Chanting slogans outside the headquarters of the Bangladesh Election Commission (BEC) on Sunday, student activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) accused the body of bias, as police and border guards stood watch.

Ahead of the February 12 national vote, the members of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) — the BNP’s student wing — were demanding that the BEC allow candidates with dual citizenship to contest.

The same night, though, the polling authority came under verbal attack from the opposite political corner too. Leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged from the protests that led to the ouster of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, also accused the BEC of bias and acting in favour of the BNP.

The competing accusations against the election body underscore a deepening divide over who should be allowed to contest in the elections that threatens to derail the country’s preparations for the elections.

NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan said at a news conference on Sunday that the party might reconsider its participation in the election.

The dispute

Under Bangladeshi law, foreign citizens are barred from contesting parliamentary elections.

During scrutiny of nomination papers and a subsequent nine-day appeal process that ended on Sunday, the BEC reviewed dozens of objections related to the alleged dual citizenship of 25 candidates.

Ultimately, the commission upheld the candidacy of 23 candidates and cancelled the nominations of the remaining two.

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In several instances, the BEC cleared the nominations after candidates submitted documents or affidavits stating that they had renounced, or applied to renounce, foreign citizenship.

All parties appear to have benefitted from the BEC’s decision to allow these candidatures. Of the 23 that were approved, 10 belong to the BNP. Four candidates of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist group and the NCP’s coalition partner, were also approved, as well as an NCP candidate, despite questions over dual citizenship. Another approved candidate belongs to the Khelafat Majlis, also an alliance partner of the Jamaat and the NCP.

The remaining seven candidates to be approved by the BEC belong to smaller parties or are contesting as independents, not allied with either of the two leading groups.

The NCP claims that its candidate, whose nomination was under scrutiny, had not informed it about his dual citizenship, and the party has decided to withdraw his candidacy in the election.

Mahabub Alam, an NCP leader who attended the BEC hearings where the complaints were heard, told Al Jazeera: “Requiring candidates to prove they have renounced foreign citizenship while accepting only future commitments constitutes selective and unconstitutional treatment.”

He claimed that the approach “favours certain parties”, alluding to the BNP, whose candidates are the largest beneficiaries of the BEC move to allow some dual citizens to contest. Alam pointed out that candidates who had submitted applications to renounce foreign citizenships could also withdraw those pleas before a final decision, without Bangladeshi authorities necessarily getting to know.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin rejected the allegations of bias, saying the decisions were guided by a desire to ensure participation.

“We want an election with participation from all sides,” he told candidates and their representatives after the hearings. “We have not delivered any judgement with bias.”

Past track record

Bangladesh currently allows its citizens to obtain a second citizenship from a list of 103 countries.

However, Article 66(2) of its Constitution disqualifies a person if they acquire the citizenship of a foreign state.

The current battle lines are drawn over interpretations of what the Constitution says. Does a candidate need to complete the formal renunciation of foreign citizenship before submitting nomination papers? Or is applying to relinquish that citizenship sufficient to avoid disqualification?

Critics argue that accepting affidavits or verbal assurances weakens constitutional safeguards and allows selective enforcement.

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Under United Kingdom procedures, for instance, a declaration of renunciation must be registered by the Home Office before it takes effect; until then, the applicant remains a British citizen.

The BEC has not publicly issued detailed legal reasoning for individual decisions so far.

The commission has, however, previously cancelled candidacies over dual citizenship. In January 2024, Shammi Ahmed, a nominee of Hasina’s Awami League party for Barishal-4 constituency, had her candidacy cancelled by the BEC over dual citizenship allegations — a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.

Political pressure intensifies

The dispute moved beyond the Election Commission on Sunday evening when a Jamaat-e-Islami delegation, led by party chief Shafiqur Rahman, met interim government head Muhammad Yunus.

After the meeting, Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, Jamaat’s deputy chief, also accused the BEC of bias in decisions on candidate nominations, including on questions of dual citizenship.

Without naming any party, Taher said Jamaat had heard that pressure was being exerted on the commission to prevent the cancellation of nominations that should otherwise have been declared invalid due to legal flaws.

“We want to state clearly that the Election Commission must not bow to any pressure — whoever the party may be, even if it is Jamaat-e-Islami,” he said.

A day later, on Monday afternoon, an NCP delegation led by party convener Nahid Islam also met Yunus, accusing the BEC of acting under pressure from the BNP in allowing candidates accused of holding foreign citizenship to contest.

Speaking to journalists afterwards, Nahid said the commission had deviated from its legal position.

“There are candidates with dual citizenship in the BNP, and there are candidates with dual citizenship in Jamaat,” he said. “Which party they belong to is not the issue. The issue is whether the law is being applied equally to everyone.”

“It is clear that the commission has moved away from the legal position under pressure from one party and is using a flawed interpretation of the law to give these candidates an opportunity,” he added.

“If the Election Commission cannot maintain neutrality, how can we expect a fair election?” Nahid said, warning that continued bias would raise doubts about the credibility of the vote.

Nahid said the party would challenge the decisions in court and could take to the streets if necessary.

‘Ethically problematic too’

Political analyst Mohiuddin Ahmad said allowing dual citizens to run was not only unconstitutional but also “ethically problematic”.

He questioned whether allegiance to another state could be reconciled with representing Bangladeshi voters.

“If the commission knowingly overlooks constitutional requirements, it undermines its mandate and risks invalidating the election itself,” he told Al Jazeera.

Dilara Choudhury, a political analyst, said affidavits alone were insufficient to meet legal requirements and warned that the BEC risked losing moral authority if it failed to adhere strictly to procedure.

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“If the Election Commission’s image as neutral is damaged, how can it deliver a credible election?” she said. “If the election becomes questionable and citizens lose trust, it will be a futile exercise — and the government formed through it will also face questions of legitimacy.”