Local election date rests with government, not EC: Advisor Zahed

Prime Minister's Information Advisor Zahed Ur Rahman has made it clear that the government will determine the timeline for the local government elections.

Emphasising that the Election Commission (EC) “lacks sole authority” over such polls, he stressed that it must liaise with relevant government quarters to fix the schedule.

At a weekly press briefing on government progress on Tuesday, the advisor said: "The EC must decide on holding such elections in consultation and coordination with the government.

“The government will decide when it will hold the election."

"A timeline has been roughly communicated to you, so the government will follow this and collaborate with the Election Commission to proceed with the election,” he added. “The election will definitely happen; there is no confusion about this."

The EC earlier decided to conduct union council elections across seven phases starting Nov 12, though State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam claimed on Tuesday that the administration knows nothing about the tentative schedule.

Asked about this, Zahed said the EC is constitutionally responsible for organising only two elections directly, the presidential and parliamentary polls, while all other local elections require the commission to collaborate with the government.

Referring to the state minister's remarks, the advisor said since he had confirmed the government had no information on the matter, his statement should be taken as “accurate”.

"And he [state minister] knows that no decision has been made within the government. I'm saying again, the Election Commission has to hold this election in collaboration with the government," he said.

Whether the dates announced by the EC are final, or whether the elections will be brought forward or pushed back, will be decided through discussions, Zahed said.

He also urged against viewing the issue as a conflict between the government and the EC.

Asked about the nature of the forthcoming local elections, Zahed said: "No political party is taking part directly in this local election, it will be entirely candidate-centric."

He contrasted this with the system under the Awami League government, when candidates for chief local government posts ran with party symbols.

This time, candidates will contest with their individual identities rather than representing political parties, making their party affiliation less important, he said.

Zahed also hoped that the open competition would make the elections more participatory and bring back an environment for fair competition that, he said, was absent from previous local polls.