Bangladesh News

Elections to Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna city corporations are unlikely to be held on time because of the state of emergency and lack of a credible voter list.
The Election Commission (EC) has shelved the plan to hold elections to the three city corporations, tenure of which will expire in May and June this year while elections to the local government bodies are supposed to be held within 180 days before expiry of their tenure.

The EC has discussed the issue and will soon take a decision in this regard, Election Commissioner Sohul Hossain told reporters at his office yesterday.

Sources said considering the prevailing complexities of holding the election to the three city corporations, the interim government is planning to introduce the provision for appointment of administrators to the local government bodies if election is not held after expiry of the tenure.

The immediate past BNP government had initiated move for introducing the provision for appointment of interim administrators to local government bodies but it dropped the idea in the wake of severe criticism from political parties and election watchdogs.

The EC had planned to hold election to the three city corporations early in May this year as the tenure of Dhaka City Corporation will expire on May 14 while tenure of Rajshahi and Khulna city corporations on June 16 this year, sources at the EC Secretariat said.

The last election to Dhaka City Corporation was held on April 24, 2002 while the elections to Rajshahi and Khulna were held on April 25. The first meeting of Dhaka City Corporation was held on May 15 and Rajshahi on June 17 and Khulna on June 27 in 2002.

As per the laws, the five-year tenure of a city corporation is counted from the day it holds the first meeting.

Meanwhile, tenure of Sylhet City Corporation will expire on May 5 in 2008, Barisal City Corporation on May 9 the same year, and Chittagong City Corporation on June 25, 2010.

Officials at the EC Secretariat said they had planned to start preparation for holding the elections to the three city corporations after completion of the ninth parliamentary election scheduled on January 22.

But following the declaration of state of emergency on January 11, all elections including the January 22 parliamentary election were suspended. Later last month, the High Court also stayed all elections for three months.

It would not be possible to conduct the city corporation elections on time if the obstacles to holding elections are revoked, officials at the EC Secretariat said.

The last updated voter list has been mired in controversy and it is not possible to use it in any election, they added.

The EC has yet to decide the preparation of the voter list and the timeframe for the task. “A credible voter list is a prerequisite for holding an election. We have not yet decided about the preparation of voter list,” Election Commissioner Sohul Hossain said, adding that they have not yet started discussing the issue of voter identity cards.

At a meeting with the EC, a delegation of BROTEE, a non-government election watchdog, suggested not to go hurriedly for introduction of identity cards. They recommended preparing a credible voter list first.

The BROTEE has conducted a survey on the existing voter list of 30 parliamentary constituencies and shared the experiences with the EC, said the election commissioner.