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Upazila polls in end-Aug or Oct: CEC

Staff Correspondent
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the upazila polls will be held either at the end of August or early October, and that there is no scope for going beyond that time.
He said the Election Commission (EC) has already requested the chief adviser to start reshuffling the administration at various levels as part of the polls preparations.
He was speaking at a discussion at the city's Cirdap auditorium. Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan) organised the roundtable titled "The candidates we want to see in local government elections’.
The CEC said, "We arc fully prepared to hold upazila elections. As Ramadan begins in September, the polls will be held either in late August or early October. There is no scope to go beyond that since we will have to start preparing for the parliamentary election."
.^r-The number of the upazilas going to polls however has yet to be finalised. It might be between 250 and 300. depending on completion of the voter lists.
The EC will soon make a list of the upazilas that will have election in the first phase, continued the pollschief.
"We shall hold the local elections as per the electoral roadmap. We are not imposing anything. There was no controversy when we declared the roadmap."
He questioned why local government elections under the present caretaker government would be illegal, if the national election is not.
Huda said he toured six divisions for hearings on delimitation of the constituencies and everywhere people spoke in favour of local government polls. Even former lawmakers were among them.
Referring to some political parties' observation that redrawing the constituency boundaries was pan of a conspiracy to hamper the national polls, he said, "We don't knowwhat's there for conspiracy. We are not running in the elections. We are only doing the job for the betterment of thecountry."
Shujan President Professor Muzaffer Ahmad observed that the August 4 elections to four city corporations and nine municipalities will be a test case for the commission.
He said, "People are now more conscious and hopefully they will elect the correct persons to represent them."
He added that there might be some questions over the voter list, but those can be addressed gradually.
Shujan Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder said measures should be taken to disseminate information about the candidates so that people can take the right decisions.
Among others, former adviser to caretaker government ASM Shahjahan, former lawmaker Nurul Islam Nahid, North South University Assistant Professor Moshiur Rahman and Prothom Alo hint Editor Abdul Qaiyum spoke at the roundtable.
Earlier, the CEC inaugurated a website (votebd.org) prepared by Shujan on corruption of politicians, businessmen, government officials and others.