Municipal Election In Chandpur May Be Held In First Week Of December

Elections 0f 6 municipalities in Chandpur may be held in the first week of December.As the term of 6 municipalities of Chandpur is at the last stage like other municipalities of the country, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to elect 6 upazilas of Chandpur namely Kachua, Shahrasti, Hajiganj, Faridganj, Matlab and Chhengarchar municipalities.The Election Commission has planned to hold elections in the first week of December. EC Secretary Mohammad Alamgir confirmed the matter on Thursday afternoon.

“Our plan is to hold simultaneous voting in the municipalities in late November or the first or second week of December,” he said. Because the last simultaneous general election was held in December 2015 in this local government institution. The oath was taken in January.

All elections must be held within 180 days of the end of the term. But the municipality has to vote within 90 days before the expiration of the term. As such we will have to vote by the end of November or the first week of December.

“We are thinking of such a plan,” he said. However, this plan can only be implemented if the Corona situation does not take on a larger scale than it is now. Otherwise a decision has to be taken considering the situation that has arisen.

The last time the country’s municipalities voted simultaneously was on December 30, 2015. And the elected mayors held their first meeting with oath in January 2016. According to the law, the term of the elected municipality is five years.And you have to vote within 90 days before the end of time.

EC officials said there are 328 municipalities in the country. Of these, 256 are suitable for elections. However, this number may decrease or increase. Because of the legal complexities of the case, there is a possibility that the number may fluctuate.

Regarding the rumors about non-election of party mayoral posts, EC Secretary Md. Alamgir said, “There is a law to vote for the posts of heads of local governments. It has been amended to provide for party completion.”

Therefore, voting for the post of mayor of the municipal elections will be held as a party. Because we have to vote the way the law is. And there is no discussion of amending the law and going back to the previous place i.e. non-party elections.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission is working to make more use of electronic voting machines in local elections. It is learned that plans are being made to use EVM in the municipal polls.

Correspondent, 29 August 2020