Campaigns for tomorrow’s elections to four city corporations and nine municipalities were wrapped up by midnight yesterday with preparations almost completed for holding the polls in a peaceful atmosphere.
All four cities — Barisal, Khulna, Sylhet and Rajshahi — were rocking with last-minute hectic campaigns last night. The candidates and their supporters brought out numerous processions and held rallies throughout the day, turning the cities into carnivals of electioneering.
An atmosphere of jubilation was evident in the city corporation areas and in Naohata, Dupchanchia, Chuadanga, Sreepur, Manikganj, Fulbaria, Shariatpur, Gopalganj and Sitakundu municipality areas as candidates were making door-to-door visits since early morning.
After the High Court order on Thursday allowing political parties to participate in local government elections, leaders and activists of different political parties joined the campaigns to drum up support for their nominees.
Major candidates staged massive events flaunting their popular support while making numerous final electoral pledges to prospective voters.
Participation in the campaigns of central and senior leaders of the parties, has added new dimensions in the electioneering, which many observed might have crucial impact on the election results.
The final races are however expected to remain confined between the nominees of the two major political parties, Awami League (AL) and BNP.
BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat are however split over extending their support to mayoral candidates, making it difficult for commentators to make electoral predictions.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) has almost completed its preparations for holding the elections in a free, fair and secured atmosphere while 20,000 security personnel have already been deployed in the election areas.
As part of its last-minute preparations, the EC Secretariat on Friday sent special instructions to returning officers (RO) to ensure neutrality and transparency in holding of the polls.
With ballot papers and other election materials scheduled to reach the polling stations today, deployment of forces began at midnight yesterday for forming a three tier security for the 715 polling centres — 579 of which are in the four city corporation areas and the rest in the nine municipality areas.
Apart from stationary forces, special strike forces and mobile security teams comprising police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Ansar personnel will also work to ensure law and order during the polls.
The government identified 283 polling centres — 218 in the city corporations and the rest in the municipalities — as vulnerable to security breaches. At least 30 law enforcers will be deployed at each vulnerable centre while at least 28 will be at each of the remaining 432.
The stationary forces will take position at the polling centres today as the polling equipment also reach the centres. The forces taking position at the poll centres will work under the supervision of presiding officers till submission of the ballot papers, ballot boxes and election results to returning officers.
Mobile law enforcing teams will be patrolling the streets of the electoral areas to ensure that voters do not face any obstruction in going to the polling centres. Patrols on highways and rivers will also be strengthened.
To ensure law and order the government prohibited carrying of any kind of licensed arms between midnights of August 2 and August 5 in the polling areas. There will also be a bar on riding motorbikes, and operating baby taxis, microbuses, pick-up vans, and any engine-run vehicles in the electoral areas between August 3 midnight and 6:00am of August 5.
Over 5,500 local and international election observers will monitor the polls, the first ones to be held under the state of emergency.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh News, Daily Bangladesh News
