The elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) will be held on April 28 next.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad announced the polls schedules for the three city corporations at a press briefing at the EC Secretariat on Wednesday.
According to the schedules, the deadline for submission of nomination papers is March 29 while the nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 1 and 2 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 9.
Dhaka regional election officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed has been made returning officer for the DSCC polls while Dhaka district election officer Md Shah Alam for the DNCC election and Chittagong regional election officer Abdul Baten for the CCC election.
With the announcement of the schedules for the long overdue DSCC and DNCC elections, the previous polls schedules for the capital’s two city corporations declared on April 9, 2012 were cancelled.
There are a total of 1,870,363 voters –- 1,009,070 males and 861,293 females in DSCC that is comprised of 57 general wards and 19 reserved wards. The city dwellers will be able to exercise their franchise through 4,439 possible polling booths of 873 polling stations.
In DNCC that is comprised of 36 general wards and 12 reserved wards, a total of 2,349,313 voters –- 1,227,571 males and 1,121,742 females – are expected to exercise their voting rights in 5,828 possible polling booths of 1087 polling centres.
In the CCC comprising 41 general wards and 14 reserved wards, a total of 1,822,892 voters –- 944,563 males and 878,329 females — can apply their voting rights in 5,250 possible polling booths of 750 polling stations.
Dhaka Divisional Commissioner will act as the appeal authority in the election to the capital’s two corporations, while Chittagong Divisional Commissioner in the CCC polls.
Speaking on the occasion, the CEC said the commission has not yet taken any decision about the deployment of armed forces in the elections. “We’ll decide later whether the army is called. We’ll take the decision reviewing the law-and-order situation,” he said replying to a query.
Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad also gave the possible aspirants a 48-hour time for removing their respective campaign materials, including billboard and poster, at their own costs.
“If the billboards and posters are not removed by the next 48 hours, the aspirants concerned will face legal action,” he warned.
Replying to a query whether the ongoing movement of a political party will hamper the law and order during the elections, the CEC said, “We’ve nothing to do regarding the blockade and hartal of a political party. But we’re contacting the law enforcement agencies to provide security to voters.”
He said they do not apprehend any violence but there might be sniper attacks during the polls. “We’ve alerted the law enforcement agencies about this.”
About political parties’ support to candidates in the local government body election, Rakibuddin said though political parties extend their support to candidates of their choice in the city corporation elections as they did in election to Rajshahi, Barisal, Gazipur and Sylhet city corporations, it’ll be appropriate for them to follow the election code of conduct.
No electronic voting machine (EVM) will be used in the elections, he said, adding, “We could not find voting results in few places due to technical errors of the EVM in the Rajshahi city corporation and other elections.”
The CEC said the EVM will not be used until it is ensured that the machine is completely dependable.
He urged voters to apply their voting rights without any fear asking possible aspirants to maintain the election-friendly environment.
No voter of the three corporations can change their voting place after announcement of the election schedules. But those who applied as of March 18 can do so, the CEC said.
Four election commissioners and EC high officials including EC secretary were present at the press conference.
The last election to integrated Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was held on April 25, 2002, while the last CCC election was held on June 17, 2010.
In the 2002 integrated DCC polls, 20 aspirants contested for mayoral post, while 103 females for 30 reserved councillor posts and 571 candidates for 90 general councillor posts. The number of voters was 2,869,028 under 1342 polling stations.
In the 2010 CCC election, eight aspirants vied for mayoral post, while 59 women contested for reserved councillor posts and 253 candidates for general councillor posts. The number of voters was 1,688,676 under 673 polling stations.
The five-year tenure of the elected DCC body expired on May 14, 2007, while that of CCC will expire on July 29, 2015.
On November 29, 2011, the government split the DCC into DNCC and DSC.
On April 9, 2012, CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad announced the election schedules for the split DCCs, fixing May 24, 2012 as voting date. But, a writ petition stalled the election process halfway through. Later, the court quashed the legal bar to the election on May 13, 2013.
But fresh complexities arose over the demarcation of the DSCC and DNCC as the Local Government Ministry proposed extending the peripheries of the city corporations.
On February 23 this year, the Local Government Ministry sent a letter to the EC requesting to take necessary steps to hold elections to the DSSC and DNCC as their demarcation complexities have been settled.
Source: UNB
