EC-promised city polls in May not in sight

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The Election Commission (EC) appears to have failed to go by its promise to hold elections to four city corporations and seven municipalities next month.

Schedules for these polls should have been announced by mid-April at the latest for holding the polls in May since the EC’s proposed electoral rules require it to come up with schedules at least 40 days before the polling day, senior officials at the EC Secretariat said.

But the EC could not announce the polls schedules due to lack of fresh laws on such local government bodies, their functions and elections to those, the officials pointed out.

Meanwhile, the council of advisers to the caretaker government is yet to finalise the laws, and it might take a few more weeks to do so, sources said.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda at an April 13 meeting with chairmen of union parishads said he had enquired about the fresh laws, and he was informed that those would be finalised ‘this week’.

But finalising the laws was not on the agenda of the council of advisers’ latest meeting on Sunday.

“Even if the laws are finalised right at this moment, it will not be possible to hold the elections to four city corporations and seven municipalities in May due to lack of time required for this,” said a senior EC official. He mentioned that 40 days’ time before the polling day is needed as per the proposed electoral rules.

Besides, higher secondary certificate examination is scheduled to begin at the fag end of May and to be continued entire June, the EC official said.

“So, it will not be possible to hold the polls in May, and until HSC examinations are over as educational institutions are used as polling stations and teachers are made poll officials.”

In the proposed laws on city corporations and municipalities, the caretaker government seeks to empower the EC to formulate electoral rules and code of conduct. But the draft rules and code of conduct cannot be finalised until the laws are made, sources at the EC Secretariat said.

The EC on Thursday sent the draft electoral rules and code of conduct for candidates in the polls to the law ministry for vetting,

Earlier, the EC had on several occasions announced tentative timeframe for the first round of polls to city corporations and municipalities beginning in August last year. But it deviated from those pledges, and also from the electoral roadmap announced by it.

The CEC on August 14 last year said the first polls with a new voter list would be held in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) in January this year.

“We have a plan to hold RCC election in January. It will be an experiment. We want to see how the new voter list works,” Huda said while inaugurating voter listing in Rajshahi.

Later, the EC changed its mind and planed to hold polls to four city corporations and seven municipalities together in April.

“We want to hold the polls to these city corporations and municipalities at the end of April and the schedules for these polls will have to be declared at least 40 days before the polling day,” Huda said at a news conference on February 5.

But on April 13, the CEC said, “We will hold polls to four city corporations and seven municipalities in May… We are ready for the elections but we cannot proceed with the elections due to lack of laws.”

According to the EC plan, in the first round, polls are to be held for the city corporations of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet and municipalities in Shariatpur, Sitakunda, Cox’s Bazar, Golapganj, Sripur, Fulbaria, Chouddagram and Manikganj.

In line with its plan, the EC on February 4 at a meeting with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed asked the government to create an atmosphere conducive to holding polls to city corporations and municipalities in April either by relaxing or by lifting the state of emergency in the areas.

But the caretaker government did not respond to the EC’s call.

In the electoral roadmap announced on July 15 last year, the EC said it would begin holding due polls to local government bodies from January in the areas where the voter list will be ready.

According to the roadmap, polls to union parishads, municipalities and city corporations are to be held from January to December this year, upazila polls in between November and December, and parliamentary polls in October to December.

Since declaration of the state of emergency on January 11 last year, no elections were held.

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