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Poster Galore in Dhaka

Mayor hopefuls warned by EC

Staff Correspondent
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday urged DCC mayoral and councillor hopefuls to immediately remove their posters, billboards and banners from the city streets.
"If they fail to do so before the announcement of the election schedule, they will be held responsible for flouting the electoral code of conduct," warned theCEC.
He was talking to reporters after a meeting with senior officials of law enforcement agencies to review the situation in
the capital ahead of the polls to Dhaka city corporations — north and south.
He expressed satisfaction with the present law and order. "We were apprised of the prevailing situation. We will sit again to discuss maintain law and order during the polls."
The EC may announce the schedule by the middle of this month. The polls will be held at the end of next month.
Rakibuddin said after the announcement of the election schedule the EC might allow the aspirants a maximum of 24 hours to remove all the campaign signs on their own. "If they fail, we may engage other agencies to do the job. In that case, the costs might go up and the people concerned will have to bear the expenses."
Officials of intelligence agencies told the meeting that maintaining law and order will get high priority if the leaders of the main opposition BNP join the polls. The officials believe the opposition leaders will contest the polls, said meeting sources.
Some leaders of the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance and several nonpartisan hopefuls have already geared up their campaigns for the polls. They have been spending money on printing posters and digital banners and pasting and hanging those on the walls and streets.
The aspirants have launched the campaign taking advantage of the inadequacy in the electoral code of conduct, which does not empower the EC to take
action against them right now.
But once the election schedule is announced, the EC will have sweeping authority to stop such campaigns. There will be a ban on scrawling graffiti and pasting posters on the walls of houses and establishments.
If anybody flouts the code of conduct, the election officials can take actions against them or can ask the law enforcement agencies to remove those.
Besides, an offender may be sentenced to up to six months jail term or fined Tk 50,000 or both.
The candidates however will be allowed to hang their posters with ropes for a certain period.
The election commissioners, home secretary, chiefs of police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh Coast Guard, Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP and officials concerned were present at the meeting at the conference room of EC secretariat.