Bangladesh News

The Election Commission (EC) yesterday asked the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and police department to check income tax returns, wealth statements and police records of those elected in the August 4 polls.

The documents submitted to the commission before the elections were sent to the NBR and the office of inspector general of police (IGP) yesterday afternoon, EC Secretariat sources said.

Earlier on August 4, the EC decided to investigate allegations that some of the officials-elect had turned in false or incomplete information.

Candidates in the local polls had to produce statements on their professions, annual income and expenditure, assets and liabilities, sources of election funds and records of police cases, and copies of last income tax returns.

The EC Secretariat has requested the NBR and IGP to give opinions on each of those elected in light of checks on their documents.

Four mayors and 157 councillors have been elected to four city corporations while nine mayors and 108 councillors to nine municipalities.

The electoral rules provide for punitive actions against an elected local representative for providing false information or holding back anything on financial matters.

The EC will ask the LGRD ministry, the custodian of local government bodies, to take measures against the winner who would be found guilty, EC Secretariat officials said.

The electoral rules also carry a provision for filing criminal cases with courts for a breach of electoral rules.

REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the EC will begin the process of registration once the Representation of People Order (RPO) is finalised.

“The RPO will be finalised in a day or two, and soon after that, we will start registration of the political parties,” he told reporters at the EC Secretariat.

The same day Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain said the political parties would be asked to register with the EC in line with the final schedule for the ninth parliamentary election.

He was talking to a group of reporters at his office.

Asked if the EC has drawn up any time frame for the registration task, he replied in the negative.

According to the electoral roadmap, provisions geared for electoral and intra-party reforms were supposed to take effect by February this year, and after that, the political parties were to be given four months to register with the EC.

The long-stalled national election is tentatively slated for the third week in December.