JUCSU election scheduled after 33 years

The last JUCSU election was held in 1992, under the BNP government

After three decades of waiting, the schedule for the Jahangirnagar University Central Students Union (JUCSU) polls have been scheduled, with voting day set for Jul 31.

The date was announced by the university's Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Kamrul Ahsan in the council room of the university's administrative building at around 12:15am on Thursday.

Immediately after the date was announced, JUCSU's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Prof M Maniruzzaman of the Department of English announced the schedule for the elections.

The vice-chancellor said that, according to Article 8 of the JUCSU Constitution, the JUCSU and Hall Parliament elections will be held together on Jul 31 from 9am to 5pm.

VC Kamrul added that the teachers, students, officials and employees who were involved in the attacks on the university campus during the July Uprising will be brought to justice by Jun 29.

CEC Maniruzzaman said that the draft voter list for the JUCSU elections will be published on May 12 alongside the draft code of conduct.

The last date for receiving objections to the draft voter list and giving opinions on the draft code of conduct is May 21.

The final updated voter list and code of conduct will then be published on Jun 30.

Those interested in running for office in the elections can collect nomination papers from Jul 1-3 and submit them from Jul 1-7.

After the scrutiny of the nomination papers, the draft candidate list will be published on Jul 9. There will be an opportunity to withdraw candidacies until Jul 14. The final candidate list will be published the following day and the election will be held on Jul 31.

Prior to the announcement of the schedule, a meeting of student representatives of all departments and institutes of the university and representatives of active student organisations was held at the university's Senate Hall at 7pm on Tuesday to discuss the overall electoral environment of JUCSU.

After a long 10-hour meeting, the university administration agreed to announce the JUCSU schedule on Wednesday at 5:30am.

Since its establishment in 1972, a total of eight JUCSU elections have been held.

The last election was held in 1992 during the BNP government. Masud Hasan Talukder was elected as the vice president and Shamsul Tabriz as the general secretary.

On Jul 29, 1993, when students attacked the Teachers' Club, the administration dissolved the JUCSU and hall parliaments. No more elections were held afterwards.