Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A M M Nasir Uddin has said the Election Commission will try to organize local government elections to an even higher standard than the one set in the recent national election.
“We will try to hold local government elections better than the standard set in the national election,” the CEC said Monday, August 24, at the Electoral Training Institute.
He said local government elections tend to see somewhat more violence than national elections, and that law enforcement agencies would be deployed as needed with that in mind.
“There are challenges in organizing the election, but there is no shortfall in the commission’s commitment,” the CEC said. “We will try to hold a better election than the one we held nationally — it won’t be worse. We set that standard ourselves, so we can’t go below it. That standard will hold, and if we can, we’ll do even better.”
Saying it is not yet possible to announce a date for local government elections, the CEC said various factors have to be weighed in setting the timing, and that work is under way to amend certain laws and regulations.
“The commission has prepared the proposed amendments to the law and regulations and sent them to the ministry for vetting,” he said. “Once that process is complete, we will need to fulfill the necessary procurement and other legal requirements for organizing the election.”
The CEC said the decision on the election would be made in consultation with the government, given that police, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and other law enforcement agencies would need to be coordinated with the government to help run the polls.
“Local government elections tend to see a bit more violence than national elections — everyone knows that, and we do too,” he said. “We’re keeping that in mind and will do our best, including trying to mobilize law enforcement accordingly.”
The commission has also begun discussions with law enforcement agencies on their preparations ahead of local government elections. The CEC said the commission had held a meeting with the inspector general of police (IGP) as part of that process, covering the law-and-order situation nationwide and how many personnel police would be able to provide during the election. The commission has also requested use of police’s existing monitoring systems for field observation during the polls.
The CEC said several factors would need to be weighed in setting the election date, including Durga Puja, the monsoon season, the possibility of flooding, and the schedule of annual school examinations.
“School teachers have to serve as presiding and polling officers in elections,” he said. “So the schedule of educational institutions’ annual exams is also important in setting the election date.”
The CEC assured that local government elections would not be delayed by very long, however.
Asked about the by-election for the vacant Thakurgaon seat, the CEC said: “Under the law, the election has to be held within 90 days, and the commission is working accordingly. The Thakurgaon by-election must be held within 90 days, and we are working toward that.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report