Organising the first local election on party lines will be a challenge, says EC

The Election Commission has sought a law amendment ordinance from the government within next week to organise municipal polls on political party lines.

Secretary Md Sirazul Islam said they will have to announce their schedule by November.

“We don’t have much time,” he said on Monday. “We have to be given the ordinance within next week if the polls are to be held on party lines.”

In the morning, the Cabinet cleared drafts for amendment to election laws for Union and Upazila councils, municipalities and city corporations, paving the way for party-backed candidates to contest the polls with party logos.

Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media that political parties would be able to field candidates for elections in all local government bodies.

"It would be exactly like the parliamentary elections," he said.

The Awami League-led government had long been in favour of changing the existing law but the amendment process had been stuck all this while.

But the BNP, which boycotted the last general elections, has criticised the move, dubbing it a “conspiracy” on part of the government.

A number of elected women local government officials, too, have opposed the move, according to a report published on Monday.

Also, BNP’s key ally Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence, is unlikely to contest the polls as the High Court scrapped its registration with the EC in 2013.

But since all municipality polls have to be held within December, an ordinance will have to passed after the amendments to the election laws are vetted.

EC Secretary Islam said, “It’s still in a premature stage after the Cabinet approval. Our activities will start after the government amends the law. In that case, we’ll amend the electoral guideline and code of conduct.”

He said he believed more time was needed to amend the guidelines for municipal polls.

Several EC officials maintain that holding local polls on party lines would be a challenge.

“Although organising local government polls on party lines for the first time will be a challenge, I hope there won’t be any problems,” the EC secretary added.