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Upazila Election After 19 Years

Campaign stops, stage set for polls

Shakhawat Liton and Silariful Islam
With everything set for upazila elections after around 19 long years, the time for formal electioneering ended midnight last night, 32 hours before voting begins tomorrow morning.
Though non-partisan legally, the local government polls over three weeks after the national polls will see another contest between the political parties.
Those in contention are mostly grassroots level leaders of Awami League (AL), BNP, Jatiya Party and others.
Organising or attending rallies or processions within election areas is banned since zero hour today. The curbs will be in force till 64 hours after the start of polling at 8:00am.
However, candidates and their workers might still carry on door-to-door canvassing in last-ditch try to woo voters.
All but one of the total 481 upazilas are going to polls this time. Vote at Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari has been suspended.
The military forces will help the law enforcers maintain law SEE PAGE 15 COL 1
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and order. Already fanned out across the country, the troops will work as a striking force with the authority to arrest troublemakers.
They will be deployed till January 24 to ward off postpolls violence.
The last time people voted in upazila elections was in 1990.
The Election Commission (EC) Secretariat has already completed its preparation for the polls that follow a long wrangle between the commission and political parties over timing of theelections.
As many as 7.32.58,950 people are entitled to cast votes to choose 480 chairpersons, and the same number of general vice-chair and women vice-chair.
Over 8,000 people are competing for the posts that constitute upazila parishads, a crucial tier of the local government system. Tomorrow will be a general holiday in the election areas.
On this occasion, Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsu) Huda might address the nation today through radio and television.
To avert violence and irregularities in the local polls, the armed forces have been asked to ensure patrol more intense than that on the December 29 election.
The stringent measures reflect safety concerns under a new administration.
initially, the EC wanted to conduct the polls without deploying the military, but it thought better of it amid reports of violence after the recently held general election.
"We have taken all necessary' steps so the elections are held in a peaceful and fair manner, and the government too has extended full cooper-ation , ' Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hossain told reporters at his office yesterday.
Asked if the government is bearing down on them to have the results in favour of the ruling parties, he said there is no pressure on the commission.
A special cell at the EC Secretariat is working to coordinate the efforts towards sound law and order.
Tomorrow's election is a
challenge also to the government, as any violence and attempts to influence the polls will taint its image.
According to the local government laws, an upazila parishad shall be comprised of a chairman, two vice-chairmen. chairmen of all union parishads and mayor of municipality, if there's any under a given upazila, and a certain number of women members from reserved seats.
Though formal campaigning began after December 31. the closing date for withdrawal of candidacy, most of the contenders have been canvassing for quite a long time now.
The elections were originally slated for December 28.
An ordinance proclaimed in June last year curtailed the lawmakers' power with regard to upazila panshads and gave upazila chairmen complete authority to use development funds.
TRAVELBAN
The government has imposed a ban on the movement of taxicabs, motorised three-wheelers. microbuses, jeeps, pickups, cars, buses, trucks and human haulers from midnight today till midnight tomorrow, says a home ministry order yesterday.
The ban applies also to launches, engine-boats and speedboats plying the waterways in the upazilas.
It. however, will not affect traffic on the highways. The checks could be eased in the port areas for emergency supplies.
The upazilas have already been declared off-limits to bikers with effect from midnight last night till midnight January 24.
The transport ban will not be applicable to local and foreign election observers, journalists, and those on election duty.
Vehicles used by the emergency, power and utility services will be out of the ban'spurview.
Relaxation of the restrictions for candidates and their agents will be at the returning officers'discretion/, jruix.0 so.