CEC pledges peaceful, violence-free local govt polls

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday said the Election Commission (EC) is committed to holding peaceful and violence-free local government elections and called for collective efforts to ensure national unity ahead of the polls.

Speaking at an event organised by Asian Network for Free Elections at a city hotel, the CEC said the EC aims to conduct the elections in a fair and orderly manner without bloodshed.

He urged all stakeholders to work together to maintain harmony and support free and fair elections. 

According to him, the EC plans to launch a large-scale voter awareness campaign with assistance from development partners and engage in discussions with relevant stakeholders.

Nasir Uddin said the initiative is intended to unite all parties involved and prevent violence during the local government elections.

Referring to the February 12 general election, the CEC said detailed results for every constituency and polling station remain available on the EC website, allowing anyone to verify whether there were any inconsistencies in the vote count.

The Election Commission is currently preparing to hold elections for 4,581 Union Parishads, 61 Zila Parishads, 495 Upazila Parishads, 330 municipalities and 13 city corporations.

As part of the preparations, the EC is updating the electoral code of conduct in line with laws governing city corporations, municipalities, zila parishads, upazila parishads and union parishads.

The EC said the local government elections will be arranged following requests from the Local Government Division.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam recently indicated that phased local government elections are likely to begin after the monsoon season, possibly from September or October this year.

SH