Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Tuesday said that elections to the two Dhaka City Corporations (DCCs) would be held shortly after Eid-ul-Fitr. “The election schedule for the two Dhaka city corporations may be announced about 40-45 days later of the Eid-ul-Fitr,” the CEC told the journalists after hours-long meeting of the commission. Earlier, he had said that the Election Commission preferred holding elections to the stalled polls before the month of holy Ramadan as it would be ‘very difficult’ after Eid.
Justifying EC’s apparent shifting from its earlier stance, Rakibuddin said the commission has only 32 to 33 days in its hands if it goes for the polls before the month of Ramadan.
The holy month begins on July 10 or 11. ‘Whereas,’ he added, ‘there is a convention that the candidates get about 45 days after the announcement of election schedule for preparations.’
Replying to a query, the CEC claimed that there are no more legal complications about holding the two DCC elections. “Holding elections to the two city corporations with a total of as much as 40 lakh voters would be a gigantic task for the commission and that is why the commission has decided to hold the elections after Eid-ul-Fitr,” he said.
Replying to another question, he said that holding stalled city polls in Dhaka would not intimidate the next general elections.
Scheduled for May 24, 2012, the polls in Dhaka South City and Dhaka North City Corporations were stayed following a public interest writ petition.
As the High Court has recently quashed the writ petition, the EC came forward and declared tentative time to hold the much-talked-about stalled polls.
The tenure of the lone DCC expired on May 14, 2007. But the election could not be held due to the state of emergency at that time.
The past EC, led by ATM Shamsul Huda, had also moved to hold the polls on May 31, 2010. But the current government did not let them do so.
Later, the government split the DCC into two separate corporations on November 4, 2011 and appointed administrators to run them by dismissing Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who was elected in April 2002.
-With The Independent input
