AL to announce candidates for Dhaka city polls tomorrow: Quader

Bangladesh Awami League will declare the names of its candidates for the upcoming Dhaka north and south city corporations elections tomorrow.

“We’ll announce the names of our candidates for the upcoming Dhaka north and south city corporations elections through a press briefing from the political office of AL President Sheikh Hasina at Dhanmondi tomorrow morning,” AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader told reporters emerging from a meeting of the AL Local Government Election Nomination Board.

AL Local Government Election Nomination Board President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said the AL Local Government Election Nomination Board meeting is going on to finalise the party candidates in mayoral and councillor posts of the two city corporations.

“The names of the candidates will be declared tomorrow on the basis of intelligence and organisational reports,” he added.

The elections to Dhaka north and south city corporations will be held on January 30 next year.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda announced the schedule at his office on December 22. Election commissioners were also present at the programme.

According to the polls schedule, the last date for filing nomination papers is December 31.

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

The 180-day countdown for the EC to complete elections has already started as the tenure of the current mayor and councillors of Dhaka North City Corporation will end on May 13, 2020, while the tenure of DSCC mayor and councillors will be completed on May 16, 2020.

According to the EC, the two city corporations have over 54.02 lakh voters — 30.35 lakh in DNCC and 23.67 lakh in DSCC — to cast their votes in the elections.

Along with electing the mayors, DNCC voters will also elect 54 ward councillors and 18 reserved women councillors while DSCC voters will elect 75 ward councillors and 25 reserved women councillors.