Presiding officer to be changed if any candidate complains: EC
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir yesterday said presiding officers of polling centres in the upcoming upazila elections will be changed if any candidate makes allegations about their neutrality.
If there is any complaint against a presiding officer of his or her impartiality, the commission will replace them without needing proof for those, Alamgir told reporters at his EC office in the capital.
None raises allegation against anyone without a reason, he added.
Alamgir said to replace a presiding officer, they will first try to appoint someone from the panel of presiding officers. If the qualified one is not found in the panel, a presiding officer will be picked from the nearest upazila or the district.
Talking about the election atmosphere, Alamgir said a festive mood exists in the upazilas where elections will be held, according to intelligence reports, and there is no security threat centering the polls.
Since the election will be conducted in several phases, it will be possible for the commission to deploy an adequate number of law enforcers during the polls. In fact, the number of law enforcers for ensuring law and order will be more than that of the last general election.
As parties can nominate their candidates or their members can independently contest the upazila polls, the parties make decisions according to their charters, Alamgir said.
Parties can keep the doors open for everyone to vie for the polls, and no parties can publicly force any candidates to quit the race, he said, adding "Threatening or intimidating a candidate is a violation of the code of conduct … but parties have the rights to make decision in their forums."
The upazila elections will be held in four phases with the first one to 150 upazilas on May 8. In the second phase, 161 upazilas go to polls on May 21, 112 upazilas on May 29 in the third phase, and 55 upazilas on June 5.
Comments