CUCSU polls pushed back by 3 days to Oct 15

The decision was made in response to appeals from candidates, according to election officials

The Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) and hall council elections have been pushed back by three days following a similar move at Rajshahi University.

The polls, initially slated for Oct 12, will now be held on Oct 15, Election Commission Secretary Prof AKM Ariful Haque Siddique said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

This means the CUCSU polls will take place a day after the Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (RUCSU) elections.

Prof Ariful said that during a meeting on Monday, both students and candidates requested that the election be delayed, as they would have only five days for campaigning.

“The final candidate list will be published on Sept 25. The university will be closed the next day. Upon reopening, candidates would have just five days for campaigning,” he said.

He added that candidates were also concerned that as the campus is far from the city, not all students may be able to return immediately on Sunday or Monday after the break.

“For this reason, they requested an additional day or two for campaigning,” he said.

The commission, too, believed that five working days may not be sufficient preparation time, Ariful added.

“Since the election requires significant involvement of university staff, the working days matter more to us than the closure itself. Taking into account both student interest and the commission’s preparations, we discussed the matter with the vice-chancellor.”

The commission also decided to suspend all exams across departments and institutes between Oct 12-18 due to the election, while classes will continue.

Students had earlier raised concerns about holding exams during the campaign period, questioning how candidates would manage their campaigns alongside tests. In response, Ariful said: “The commission decided today that all exams scheduled between the 12th and 18th of October will be postponed. However, classes will go on as usual.”

In line with university rules, there will be a holiday the day after the election, he added.

The deadline for withdrawing nominations has also been extended from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The last CUCSU election was held on Feb 8, 1990. Although discussions about fresh elections surfaced several times since then, no vote was organised.

Now, under a non-partisan interim government, Chittagong University is holding the polls in line with other public universities.