Union Parishad (UP) elections in the upcoming local government polls will be organized upazila-wide, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, with every union in an upazila voting simultaneously.
He told reporters this Monday after a meeting with stakeholders at the Election Building in Agargaon, Dhaka.
Akhtar Ahmed said, “UP elections will be held in multiple phases. But how many phases has not yet been finalized. Various possibilities, including five or six phases, are being reviewed.”
The EC secretary said, “The plan is to hold elections for all the unions within a given upazila in the same phase. If some unions in an upazila vote in one phase and the rest in another, that could create the possibility of undue influence over the election. To reduce this risk, we are considering holding votes for all unions within an upazila at the same time.”
However, he said, this is not yet the commission’s final decision — that decision rests with the commission itself. Similarly, no decision has yet been made on when the schedule for the local government elections will be announced, the EC secretary said.
On the rules and code of conduct for local government elections, Akhtar Ahmed said the rules and code of conduct for city corporation, upazila, municipality, district council and union parishad elections had been sent to the Legislative Wing of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for review. The file has since been returned. Officials will now review whether any observations or changes have been made.
He said discussions are also underway on eliminating the use of posters in local elections. Work is also under way to incorporate elements that proved effective or produced good results during the national parliamentary election into the rules and code of conduct for local government elections.
Meanwhile, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the schedule for the Thakurgaon-1 constituency by-election could be announced this week, though he described this as a possible timeframe rather than the commission’s final decision.
Earlier, Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarkar had said the commission is preparing for the Thakurgaon-1 by-election. Preparations are also under way for IT-supported postal voting. “We hope to be able to declare the schedule within a short time. The date will be set taking into account factors like religious festivals and exams,” he had said.
The parliament secretariat declared the Thakurgaon-1 seat vacant on Aug. 22. According to the secretariat’s notice, since Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as president on Aug. 21, his parliamentary seat became vacant that same day under Article 50(4) of the constitution.
Under Article 123(4) of the constitution, when a parliamentary seat becomes vacant for a reason other than the dissolution of parliament, an election for that seat must generally be held within 90 days of the vacancy.
Accordingly, the Election Commission is moving ahead with preparations for the Thakurgaon-1 by-election. However, the exact polling date and full schedule will only be known once the commission makes its formal announcement.