DNCC mayor polls Feb 28

By-polls to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral post will be held on February 28, the Election Commission said yesterday.

Announcing the DNCC by-polls schedule at the Nirbachon Bhaban, EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said the upazila parishad election would begin on March 8 or 9. The polls will be held in five phases.

For the first time in the country's history, political parties will nominate their candidates in the upazila polls.

The election schedule of reserved seats for women in parliament will be declared on February 3, Helal told a press conference after an EC meeting.

The ruling Awami League will start selling nomination forms for the DNCC by-polls today.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader has already instructed top district and upazila leaders to select one candidate or a panel of three prospective candidates for three posts -- chairman, vice-chairman and female vice-chairman -- of each upazila parishad.

Their names will have to be sent to the party's Local Government Nomination Board.

Meanwhile, the BNP is yet to decide on participating in both DNCC and upazila elections. The party has discussed the issue several times and most of the senior leaders opined not to take part in the polls.

DNCC BY-POLLS

Election to councillor posts in the 36 new wards -- 18 under the DNCC and 18 under the Dhaka South City Corporation -- will also be held on February 28, Helal said.

According to the polls schedule, the last date for filing nomination papers for both in the DNCC by-polls and election to the new wards is January 30.

The returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers on February 2, and the last date for withdrawing candidacy is February 9.

Helal said the commission announced the fresh schedule as the High Court lifted its stay orders on holding the polls.

On January 16, the court cleared the way for the DNCC by-election and election in the new wards.

The DNCC mayoral post fell vacant following the death of Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017. He was elected mayor on April 28, 2015.

On January 9 last year, the EC had declared the schedule of the DNCC by-polls and election in the new wards, setting February 26 for the voting day.

The polls were not held as the HC stayed the election schedule for six months. The court order came following filing of three writ petitions that challenged the legality of the schedule.

Helal said the EC has announced the fresh schedule of the DNCC by-polls and election to the new wards as the court earlier stayed the election schedule two days before the last date for submitting nomination papers.

He added that those who earlier collected nomination forms would have to do it again.

UPAZILA ELECTION

The EC secretary said the first phase of the upazila polls would be held on March 8 or 9. The commission will sit in a meeting on February 3 to finalise the election date, he added.

Helal said the last phase of the five-phase polls would be held after the Ramadan, which is likely to begin on May 5.

EC sources said they were planning to hold the second phase of the election on March 18, the third phase on March 24 and the fourth phase on March 31.

The fifth upazila polls will be held in 480 out of the 492 upazilas, said EC officials, adding that over Tk 500 crore would be required to hold the polls.

The fourth upazila election was held in 2014. A total of 487 upazilas went to polls in six phases at that time.

KISHOREGANJ-1 POLLS

Kishoreganj-1 will go to election on February 28, Helal told journalists.

The parliamentary seat fell vacant as AL lawmaker Syed Ashraful Islam, also former public administration minister, passed away on January 3. 

He died four days after the December 30 polls. He could not take oath due to illness.

As per the schedule, the last date for submitting nomination papers has been fixed for January 31. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on February 3, and the last date for withdrawing those is February 10.

In another development, the AL said it would sell nomination forms to aspirants for the DNCC by-polls, polls to the new wards and Kishoreganj-1 for three days from today.

The forms will be available at AL president's Dhanmondi office. Those will have to be submitted by 5:00pm on Friday, the party said in a statement yesterday.