ELECTION TO 480 UPAZILAS
Electioneering ends, polls tomorrow
Staff Correspondent
Candidates and their supporters put in all their efforts in the last-minute campaigns on Tuesday to seek votes in their favour for upazila elections. Scheduled on Thursday amidst tight security, bringing an end to nearly a month long hustings with a festive touch.
Electioneering ended midnight past Tuesday, 32 hours before the polling begins at 8:00am on Thursday. The members of the law enforcement agencies, including troops from the army have started patrolling the upazila headquarters and towns to maintain law and order.
The Election Commission is all set to hold elections in 480 upazilas, out of the total 481. The elections to the Dighinala upazila in Khagrachari has been suspended after the EC found that a chairman candidate was forced to withdraw his candidature.
Since the campaigning was kicked off after the national polls on December 29, violence was minimum. Only one chairman candidate was murdered and a number of supporters of candidates were hurt in clashes, news reports said.
Election materials, including ballot boxes, will be sent to polling centres today.
The people, who could not cast votes in last general election held on December 29 as their names could not be found on the electoral rolls though they carried their national ID cards, may not be able to exercise their voting rights in upazila polls because the commission did not resolve the problems.
‘After the national polls we initiated to resolve the problem relating to electoral rolls. But the task was not completed as yet,’ election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters on Tuesday.
He, however, said that problems relating to the voters list was detected mainly in the city corporation areas that would not create much problems in upazila polls.
According to a commission release, the EC has imposed restrictions on the plying of motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, taxicabs, microbuses, jeeps, pickups, cars, buses, trucks, human haulers, launches, and all types of mechanised boats between midnight past Wednesday and midnight past Thursday.
The release said the ban would not be applicable to vehicles plying on the highways.
The release, however, said the ban would not be applicable to authorised and identified election observers and journalists, employees on election duty, members of the law enforcement agencies, ambulances and the vehicles engaged in electricity, gas, telephone and postal services.
Out of total 8,131 candidates for the upazila elections, 3,316 are in the race for the posts of chairman, 2,879 for vice-chairman and 1,936 for vice-chairman (reserved for women).
About 13 lakh people including 5,56,607 polling personnel, five lakh members of law enforcement agencies have been mobilised for the election duties, EC officials said.
Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain on Tuesday again expressed frustration over the influence of newly elected lawmakers in the upazila elections.
‘Due to high enthusiasm and influence of the Members of Parliament, problems were created in some areas which is not acceptable,’ the commissioner said.
Sakhawat, however, ruled out any pressures from the new political government in conducting the upazila polls.
The EC found that the lawmakers of the ruling Awami League were trying to influence the upazila elections in many areas of the country by carrying out electoral campaigns in favour of their party contestants. But the EC is unable to take any action to prevent them from influencing the polls for the lack of electoral rules to impose restriction on the MPs for electioneering in favour of the their party candidates.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
