Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed will sit with the commissioners and law enforcing agencies on Thursday to take a decision on the privileges of mayors and upazila chairmen in the event of their participation in the general election. EC officials said this is important for implementation of election rules for returning officer (RO) to make a level playing field during the polls.
The meeting will also discuss visits by foreign journalists and election observers, and law and order situation of the country.
The officials said the EC has to declare whether the office of mayors and upazila chairmen as ‘profitable’ or not.
“If the offices are declared profitable, then the prospective candidates need to resign from their posts before filing nomination papers as per RPO (Representation of Peoples Order). But, if it does not happen then the ROs have no way to prevent the incumbents from enjoying all the facilities that come with their posts,” an EC official said, requesting anonymity.
The commission met on the issue on Wednesday, but failed to reach a consensus. Most of the commissioners opined that if the rule was announced by the EC, then it would have to face hundreds of legal battles in every constituency, sources said.
Meanwhile, the CEC has asked the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Benazir Ahmed, to deploy more security personnel in the EC secretariat to ensure safety and security of the commission, and its officials.
Following the meeting with the CEC, Benazir told reporters that the police department is now under the authority of EC, and it will carry all orders by the poll panel.
The CEC also met with the UNDP country representative, Neal Walker, for a one-to-one closed-door meeting.
To examine the challenges of holding 10th parliamentary election, especially to observe the EC measures for ensuring level playing field for the political parties, a high-powered delegation of the European Union (EU) will start visiting Bangladesh from next week.
The EC will also sit with the National Democratic Institute for International Affair (USA) and Election Working Group (EWG), the domestic election observer group, to exchange views in this regard.
It will also meet representatives of the EU, other donors, and diplomats, to frame the existing guidelines for the foreign observers, EC sources said.
-With The Independent input
