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Download PDF The Election Commission (EC) yesterday began finalising the draft electoral rules and code of conduct for polls to upazila parishads with a strict provision to disqualify candidates using their political affiliation in the polls.
The EC also plans to hold the long overdue polls to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) late October by having the voter list of DCC areas ready by the first week of September, sources in the EC Secretariat said.
According to an EC decision made on July 10, polls to 300 out of 482 upazila parishads will be held on the fourth week of October. The EC will ask the government to relax the state of emergency in the areas concerned for allowing candidates run campaigns, EC sources said.
The polls to DCC might be held alongside polls to upazila parishads, they added.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the commission is preparing to hold the upazila parishad polls on October 23, a tentative date.
“Polls to upazila parishad must be held in October. But we have yet to finalise specific date for the polls,” CEC Huda told reporters emerging from an EC meeting that started discussing the draft electoral rules and code of conduct for upazila parishad polls.
“Schedule for the polls will be announced 40 to 42 days ahead of the election day,” he added.
Asked about the political parties’ opposition to holding the upazila polls before the parliamentary election, the CEC said the commission wants to proceed with its own plan.
On the same issue, Communication Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader yesterday wondered why political parties decry holding upazila parishad polls disregarding the fact that it is a non-party election.
Polls to the remaining 182 upazila parishads will be held immediately after the ninth parliamentary election, which is supposed to be held on the third week of December.
The CEC said the commission has yet to fix any tentative date for the parliamentary polls.
The EC sits today again to discuss the draft rules and code of conduct for the upazila parishad polls. It plans to finalise the draft rules next week and then send it to the law ministry for vetting, sources in the EC Secretariat said.
According to the draft electoral rules and code of conduct, polls to upazila parishads are totally non-partisan and the candidates will not be allowed to use their political identities, party name or symbols during their campaign. If a candidate violates this rule, he or she can lose the candidature, be fined and jailed, the draft says.
The Upazila Parishad Ordinance promulgated by the caretaker government in June says that if an individual is elected upazila chairman, he or she will have to resign from the post of his or her political party before taking oath for the new job.
The EC has made plans to publish the draft voter list for DCC areas later this month allowing people to check the authenticity of the voter list with photographs.
According to the plan, the final voter list for the DCC areas will be ready by the first week of September and it will require a few days to complete its printing.
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