Government asks EC to prepare for DCC polls

The government has asked the Election Commission (EC) to organise polls in the newly demarcated Dhaka City Corporation amid the ongoing political unrest.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 Feb 2015, 12:43 PM
Updated : 23 Feb 2015, 09:26 PM

A gazette regarding the resolution of the complexities over demarcation was also sent to the EC on Monday afternoon.

EC Secretary Md Sirazul Islam confirmed that they had received the gazettes with the demarcation of the two city corporations.

“We have received the request from the Local Government Division,” he told bdnews24.com. “The commission will take the next decisions.”

The letter asked the EC to take the ‘necessary steps’ to organise the balloting and had copies of the two gazette notifications attached.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad and Secretary Islam left for home from their office after receiving the government letter around 5:45pm.

CEC Ahmad said he would inform the media “at the appropriate time.”

No DCC election has been held in the last eight years. The last election to the then undivided Dhaka City Corporation was held in 2002, with its term ending in May 2007.

Four years later, on Nov 30, 2011, the DCC was divided in two -- with 56 wards going under South and 36 wards under North.

There have been two initiatives to hold polls during emergency rule and when an Awami League-led government came to power in 2008, but both failed.

But the boundary demarcation gazette has cleared all hurdles.

The commission has already requested the finance ministry to allocate Tk 450 million to organise the polls in the current fiscal ending June 30.

EC officials say they prefer the April-May period as the ‘perfect’ time for the much-awaited elections.

The BNP, leading a violent street agitation to press for a snap election, claims the move is to divert the people’s attention from their ‘democratic movement’.

Its leaders say the party is not interested in the polls at the moment.

BNP’s Sadeque Hossain Khoka was the last elected mayor of the undivided DCC.

Recent media reports claim there have been talks in Cabinet meetings to nominate businessman Anisul Haq for the DCC North and former mayor Md Hanif’s son Sayed Khokon for the South.

Nagarik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna has already announced to throw his hat in the fray.

But he is in a tight spot after the leak of his telephone conversations with Khoka and another unidentified person.