CCC polls schedule to be announced today

EC to deploy army on limited scale for peaceful polls
The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the elections to the Chittagong City Corporation today, said Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda on Monday.
‘The schedule of the polls will be announced on Tuesday and the elections are expected to be held before June 25,’ the CEC told reporters after a meeting with top officials of the law enforcing agencies at his office.
At the meeting the EC reviewed the law and order situation in the areas under the CCC’s jurisdiction and decided to deploy the army on a limited scale to ensure peaceful elections.
‘The army will be deployed for five days, three days ahead of the election, and will remain till the day after the election,’ the CEC told reporters.
When asked about the seizure of illegal arms before the polls, the CEC said checkpoints would be set up before the elections.
He said that the EC plans to introduce Electronic Voting Machine in a ward of the CCC as a model.
The last CCC election was held on 9 May, 2005. The five-year tenure of the city corporation, which held its first meeting on 26 June, 2005, expires on June 25.
The Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2010 requires the holding of a city corporation election in the last 180 days of its tenure.
Accordingly, the EC is taking preparations to hold the polls, and its secretariat has prepared a panel of 14,931 polling officers.
The EC had earlier decided to hold the overdue Dhaka City Corporation polls on May 31, but on April 15 it deferred the elections by five months in response to the government’s request. Meanwhile, the government high-ups have expressed their desire to have the DCC ward constituencies redemarcated before the polls.
They also asked the EC to defer the polls until winter.
The Awami League is not for holding the polls at a time when the voters in Dhaka city are deeply annoyed at the shortage of power, water and gas and the soaring prices of essentials.
The ruling party thinks that it will get better results by holding the polls in winter when the demand for power will fall.
The principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, inspector-general of the police and representatives of the BDR, RAB and intelligence agencies attended Monday’s meeting on the law and situation.

Courtesy of NewAge