UP polls to end before June 6: EC

The next Union Parishad (UP) elections will be completed before June 6 next year, as the Election Commission (EC) and other stakeholders agreed on a broad timeframe on Thursday.

However, the EC is yet to finalise the election dates, as it will review preparations and the schedules of school and public examinations before announcing the final timetable.

The EC held a meeting with officials from the Local Government Ministry and other agencies on Thursday to discuss preparations for the UP elections.

After the meeting, Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanauallah said all sides agreed that the elections should be completed before the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations begin.

The EC had earlier planned to hold the elections in seven phases, proposing November 12 for the first phase and May 27 next year for the seventh and final phase.

Sanauallah said, however, that those dates were part of an initial plan and had not yet been finalised.

“We have not moved away from our initial plan at all,” he told reporters.

He said the commission would review the information received at Thursday’s meeting before finalising the election schedule.

The EC also discussed the possible deployment of law enforcement agencies during the UP elections. Sanauallah said security arrangements would follow the model used during the national election.

Modern technology would also be used in the local elections, as it was during the national election, he said.