The Election Commission (EC) is moving ahead with plans to hold union parishad (UP) elections early next year. Under its initial plan, the commission is preparing to begin UP elections in phases from the first week of January.
If the first slot of elections begins in the first week of January, it will be possible to complete elections in 2,000 UPs in three slots before Ramadan, senior election commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told the state news agency BSS in an interview at Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon on Wednesday. If the first slot is held then, the schedule will be announced 40 to 45 days earlier, he said.
Because there are public examinations in November and December, UP elections may begin at the start of next year, in the first week of January, so that students can sit their exams smoothly and without disruption, he said. But only preliminary discussions have been held so far, and nothing has been finalised.
“We have all kinds of preparations in place, and we will make any further preparations needed. Election preparation is an ongoing process,” the commissioner said. Several slots of UP elections are being considered before Ramadan, with the plan to resume after Ramadan and finish all UP elections by June. As the SSC examinations begin after Ramadan, the timing will be decided in light of the situation then, he said.
The EC is also considering holding municipal elections soon after the UP elections, with other local government elections to follow in phases, he said.
Holding local elections well needs everyone’s cooperation, including law enforcement, the administration and school and college teachers, and the commission will work in coordination with the government, Masud said. At recent preparatory meetings with ministries, divisions and authorities, the EC was assured that law and order is normal, he said.
“We will start work assuming law and order is normal, and we will not call in the army at first. But if after the first phase of UP elections we feel law and order needs to be tighter, we will consider it. Otherwise, at this moment we do not feel the need to call in the army for all local government elections,” he said. Having held a large nationwide election in a single day fairly, the commission will make every effort to hold the area-based UP elections in slots fairly too, and to keep trouble, violence and irregularities to a minimum, he said.
Election commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah has said that elections must be held quickly in about 4,272 of the country’s 4,580 union parishads because of the legal requirement to hold them in the 180 days before their terms end, and that the EC wants to complete UP elections before June 6. Election commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said local elections would be held from January, with a timeline to finish UP elections by June 6; if pending cases are settled, the number of UPs will rise to nearly 5,000, making each phase very large, he said.
The EC has recently published the gazette of the Union Parishad (Election Conduct) Rules, 2026. The revised rules set the deposit at Tk 25,000 for chairman candidates and Tk 5,000 for member candidates, and maximum spending at Tk 10 lakh and Tk 2 lakh respectively. Threatening, intimidating or obstructing election officials carries up to two years in prison or a fine of up to Tk 10,000. Candidates who win less than 15 percent of votes cast will forfeit their deposits, and if the top candidates tie, the commission will order the returning officer to hold a re-run among them.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report