The Election Commission (EC) will announce schedule for local-body polls soon after the law ministry finalises the electoral rules, the chief election commissioner (CEC) yesterday said.
“We hope we’ll be able to hold the local-body elections in five city corporations and nine municipalities by the third week of July,” ATM Shamsul Huda told reporters at Bhawal Mirzapur Hazi Jamiruddin High School.
The CEC was inaugurating the work on voter registration and national identity cards as chief guest in sadar upazila of the district.
Presided over by Deputy Commissioner Syed Mizanur Rahman, the function was attended by Police Superintendent Abdul Baten and deputy commander of local army camp Maj Zayed.
In reply to a question, the CEC mentioned that the government has requested the EC to hold local-body polls before the national elections. “And we’ll hold the elections accordingly,” he said.
He said the EC had declared in its roadmap that local-body elections and Union Parishad elections would be held before and after the general elections respectively. “I don’t know why so much controversies then.”
Asked if the re-demarcation of constituencies could further delay the stalled general elections, the CEC said, “There’s no reason for it, because the Election Commission has received complaints about only five re-demarcated constituencies out of 133 ones, and complaints about four have been accepted.”
About the EC’s invitation letter to BNP leader Khandaker Delwar Hossain, Huda said the government and the EC are separate organisations. “We didn’t issue the letter after consultation with the government,” he added.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh News, Bangladesh Politics, Daily Bangladesh News, News, Politics
