The Election Commission (EC) Secretariat has proposed that Tk 100 crore, over half of the estimated total cost for upazila elections, be spent to ensure foolproof security.
Of the amount, Tk 50 crore has been marked down for the army and the rest for the law enforcement agencies, said sources at the EC Secretariat.
This would be the highest security expenditure on record for any polls in Bangladesh, a senior EC official said.
Despite the political parties’ opposition to any other polls before the national election planned for December, the EC is working to start holding upazila polls in October.
To hold the local body polls in October, the EC will have to announce the schedule by the middle of next month.
In the draft budget, around Tk 100 crore has been set aside to meet the other expenses to organise polls to 482 upazila parishads.
“On getting the commission’s approval, we will send the budget to the finance ministry for disbursement,” an EC Secretariat official said.
With the proposed allocation of funds for the army, it is now quite obvious that the armed forces will be deployed to maintain law and order during upazila polls, observed senior officials at the EC Secretariat.
The draft rules for upazila elections give the forces on election duty the power to arrest anyone without warrant for violation of electoral rules.
Meanwhile, the EC meets tomorrow to settle on the number of upazila parishads going to polls in the first phase.
At the crucial meeting, it might also set a time limit for registration of the political parties.
Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain yesterday told The Daily Star that they would discuss the upazila election issue at tomorrow’s meeting.
Asked if they would press on with efforts to hold polls to over 300 upazila parishads in October braving resistance from the political parties, he said they still stand by their plans.
Political parties including Awami League (AL) and BNP argue that holding the local polls first would delay further the parliamentary election tentatively slated for the third week of December.
PARTY REGISTRATION
About registration of the political parties, Sohul said the commission would discuss the issue tomorrow.
Citing time constraints, he said they will have to begin the registration process soon.
Sources said the commission aims to complete registration by October.
According to the electoral roadmap announced in July last year, electoral and intra-party reforms were supposed to come into force by February and the political parties to register with the EC by June this year.
The EC will have to announce schedule by early November to hold the long-stalled parliamentary election in December.
As per the roadmap, the parties were to get four months to prepare for registration. But they now have barely two months [September-October] as only recently the commission had the new electoral provisions in the Registration of People Order (RPO).
All major political parties will have to revise their constitutions and elect new committees through national councils to fulfil the criteria laid down for registration. As per the amended RPO, they will have to sever ties with their front organisations and do away with chapters abroad.
The parties say it’s not possible to hold national council and do the tasks in such a short period of time.
Officials at the commission secretariat however say the EC would need two weeks to examine the documents to be submitted by the parities applying for registration.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh
