Rangpur city polls likely in Dec

Election Commissioner Md Alamgir on Sunday said the Rangpur City Corporation election is likely to be held in late December or at the beginning of January.

“In that case, the schedule will be announced in November. But, we want to conduct the election within the designated time. We don’t want to do it at the end of time,” the Election Commissioner told reporters at his office at the Election Commission Secretariat.

When asked whether electronic voting machines (EVMs) and CCTV cameras will be used in this election, Alamgir said, “It will be decided in the commission meeting. We can’t say right now. However, the commission has a preliminary decision to use those in the election.”

“The position of the EC is that it will try to provide EVMs and CCTV cameras in as many city corporations where elections are held. But these decisions are taken in separate meetings for each election,” he said.

According to the local government (city corporation) law, there is a binding of holding election before 180 days of the end of tenure of the city corporation.

Tenure of the city corporation will end in February 2023 and the countdown of the election started on August 19, 2022.

The election to the city corporation was held on December 21, 2017. The first meeting was held on February 19, 2017. The tenure will end by five years of the first meeting.

Speaking about Gaibandha-5 by-polls, the Election Commissioner said the probe committee of the EC submitted a report to the EC Secretary last Thursday regarding the irregularities in the Gaibandha by-election.

The decision on the vote will be taken after discussion of the report, he said.

By Daily Sun