Bangladesh’s Election Commission is preparing to hold phased local government elections starting in October, with union parishad and municipality polls likely to be held first, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmaanel Maasud said.
In an interview at the Election Commission’s Dhaka headquarters, Maasud said preparations could be completed within one to one-and-a-half months once coordination with the government begins. He said completing elections for all tiers of local government — union parishads, municipalities, upazila parishads, zila parishads, and city corporations — could take approximately one year.
He said no formal decision has been made on the sequence but, given practical and administrative needs, union parishad and municipality elections are most likely to come first. Upazila parishad elections require completed UP and municipality elections as a prerequisite, so those will follow, he said.
Maasud said the commission considers factors including public examinations, religious festivals, the monsoon season, and regional geographic and communication conditions when setting the election schedule. No formal communication with the government has taken place yet, but the commission is advancing preparations on its own initiative.
He said more than 4,500 union parishads are ready for elections. Security will be provided primarily by police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Ansar forces, with phased elections allowing each stage’s experience to inform the next phase’s security planning.
Key regulatory changes include: increased deposits for union parishad candidates, elimination of online nomination filing, no use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), no postal ballots, and no campaign posters. A draft code of conduct has been published on the commission’s website for public comment.
Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir recently told parliament that the commission has begun necessary preparations for free, fair, impartial, and participatory local government elections within the scheduled timeframe.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report