The Election Commission will hold the vote for 50 reserved women’s seats in the 13th parliament on May 12, commission secretary Akhter Ahmed said after the 11th commission meeting held on Monday. He added that the full schedule will be released on April 8.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin chaired the nearly three-hour session at the election building.

The commission had earlier written to political parties and independent Members of Parliament, giving them until yesterday — 30 working days from the gazette publication of the general election results — to notify the EC whether they would contest the reserved seats on an alliance basis. All parties and independents met the deadline, Ahmed said.

The 13th Parliament’s general election and a concurrent referendum took place on February 12. The EC published the official results with the names of elected MPs the following day.

Under the law, the 50 seats reserved for women are allocated proportionally based on each party or alliance’s share of the 300 general seats. On that formula, the BNP qualifies for 36 reserved seats, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for 12, independent MPs (if they form an alliance) for two, and the National Citizen Party (NCP) for one. Smaller parties that do not join an alliance will receive none.

The Jatiya Sangsad (Reserved Women Seats) Election Act, 2004 requires the commission to hold the election within 90 days of the gazette notification. The same law mandates the EC to publish a notice setting the timeline for nominations, scrutiny, withdrawals and polling day, and to prepare separate party- and alliance-based lists of MPs within 30 working days of the gazette.