No processions, rallies without EC permission

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Candidates contesting in city corporation polls will not be allowed to bring out campaign processions or hold rallies unless they take prior permissions from the authorities, according to a draft electoral code of conduct.

The Election Commission (EC) drafted the code of conduct for election candidates for holding polls to the city corporations of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, and Sylhet by the end of April or in early May before the parliamentary election.

The military backed caretaker government already assured the EC of creating an environment conducive to holding the city corporation elections, by lifting or relaxing the state of emergency in respective areas, as the emergency regime had slapped a ban on all kinds of political activities in those areas.

“Prior permission will have to be taken from proper authorities informing them about the specific time, date and place of any procession or meeting for election campaigns,” sources said quoting from the draft electoral code of conduct.

According to the definitions, authorities are district magistrates or officials authorised by the district magistrates or police commissioners.

The draft also recommended imposing a ban on holding rallies and bringing out processions obstructing vehicular traffic or movement of the people.

It also suggested restrictions on pasting posters on walls in city corporation areas during electioneering. Moreover, none will be allowed to paste election posters and leaflets on buses, trucks, launches or on any other vehicle, according to the proposed code of conduct.

The draft proposals also stipulate that violation of the electoral code of conduct will be considered an offence punishable by imprisonment, fine, and cancellation of candidacy.

At a meeting with the LGRD adviser on Monday the EC handed over the draft code of conduct to him for the government’s consideration. The LGRD ministry usually formulates all sorts of rules for polls to local governments.

But, if the EC gets the authority to formulate electoral rules for polls to local governments, it will be able to finalise itself the code of conduct for candidates in city corporation polls.

The draft code of conduct for candidates in city corporation polls is almost similar to the one for political parties and individual candidates in parliamentary election.

According to the current electoral code of conduct, political parties and individual candidates do not need to seek permission from the authorities for brining out campaign processions or for holding rallies. They just need to inform local police stations about their programmes.

The EC also submitted a draft ordinance to the LGRD ministry for banning permanently pasting of posters and scrawling of graffiti on walls of public and private buildings in urban areas.

ELECTION EXPENDITURE
The EC also drafted a proposal to fix a ceiling for campaign expenditure of the candidates in city corporation elections, based on the numbers of voters in constituencies, sources in the EC said.

The existing provision allows a mayoral candidate to spend Tk 5 lakh for election campaign, while Tk 50,000 expenditure is allowed for ward commissioner candidates, regardless of the number of voters in a constituency.

Saying the current ceiling on campaign expenditure is irrational, the EC moved to introduce a new system in a bid to remove discriminations as the numbers of voters in the six city corporations vary.

According to the new area wise voter lists with photographs, Rajshahi City Corporation has 2.60 lakh voters, Khulna City Corporation has 3.98 lakh, Barisal has 1.77 lakh, Sylhet has 2.54 lakh, and Chittagong City Corporation has 15.52 lakh voters.

In Dhaka City Corporation 35 lakh voters have already been registered so far, and the number is likely to increase as registrations go on.

To reduce campaign expenditure in city corporation polls, the EC also planned to arrange electoral debates of the candidates, which are likely to be broadcast by television channels and radio stations.

The EC is scheduled to sit today with representatives from satellite television channels and radio stations seeking their cooperation in broadcasting the debates among the electoral candidates.

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