Municipal polls schedule announced, deadline for filing nominations Dec 3

The Election Commission has announced the schedule for polls in 234 municipalities, with voting set for Dec 30.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed made the announcement on Tuesday.
 
The deadline for the filing of nominations is Dec 3. The last day for withdrawals from the race is Dec 13, he said.
 
Election officials will scrutinise the nominations on Dec 5 and 6.
 
This is for the first time that leaders of political parties will vie for mayoral positions in municipalities with party symbols, as in the instance of national elections, following the amendment to the local government election law.
 
However, candidates for councillors’ posts will have to take part in the election with non-party symbols.
 

Bangladesh has more than 300 municipalities. The tenure of the current mayors and councillors in 240 of them will end in December.

On Dec 30, elections will be held in 236 of them, which have about seven million voters, EC officials said.

With each municipality having 11 wards on average, polls will be held in around 2,500 wards in the municipalities ready for the vote.

Apart from 236 mayors, the voters will elect 2,500 councillors and over 800 women councillors in reserved seats.