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DCC polls May 24

Shakhawat Liton
The two Dhaka city corporations will go to election on May 24, the Chief Election Commissioner
(CEC) announced yesterday.
CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad sought wholehearted support from all political parties and people to hold the polls freely and fairly.
"We expect that all political parties will
follow the electoral laws for holding a free and fair election," he said, rolling out the election schedule.
It will be the first major election under Rakibuddin-led Election Commission constituted in early February.
On the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the polls, the CEC said the EC has yet to decide on it. "We have plans to use EVMs in some polling stations."
Asked whether the EC would opt for army deployment in the election, he said the EC would take all necessary measures to ensure the safetyofvoters.
Several months before the announcement, some leaders of Awami League-led alliance and individuals had pasted posters and hanged banners and billboards in the streets expressing their desire to contest the polls.
According to an earlier decision of the EC, they will have to remove those within 24 hours of the schedule's announcement, said a senior EC official.
Issuing a note of caution, the polls chief yesterday
said, “The EC would take action if anyone refuses to abide by the electoral laws."
Though the election is officially non-partisan, political parties will play a big role in it by extending support to their leaders contesting the posts of mayors and councillors.
More than 38 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to elect two mayors for the DCC North and the South, and 92 councillors for general wards and 31 wards reserved for women.
The polls may turn into a fierce battle of ballots if the main opposition BNP decides to support its leaders standing against the AL alliance-backed candidates in the election.
If that happens, the election could well be an indicator of popularity of the ruling alliance that assumed power with overwhelmingpopularity.
The Hasina administration has completed more than three years of its five-year tenure. Sheikh Hasina and her party have been claiming that
the present government is performingwell.
But the opposition thinks otherwise. It has been claiming that the government has "completely failed" to deliver.
Experts say the selection of candidates for mayoral posts will be a major factor in wooing city voters. And the ongoing water and electricity crises may harm the ruling alliance-backed candidates in the DCC polls this summer.
In April 2010, the previous EC headed by ATM Shamsul Huda had moved to hold the long-overdue DCC polls in May that year. But the AL-led government did not agree with the EC move.
Many policy makers in the government then were worried that holding DCC polls amid water and power crises in the summer may benefit opposition-backed candidates.
Anti-incumbency sentiment played a significant role in the 1994 DCC polls in which AL leader Mohammad Hanif defeated then ruling BNP leader Mirza Abbas to
become the mayor.
BNP leader Sadek Hossain Khoka, however, did not face any hurdle to win the April 2002 polls, as the AL, after facing debacle in the October 2001 parliamentary election, boycotted the electoral race.
The tenure of Mayor Khoka and all councillors expired in May 2007. But polls could not be held in time, as the state of emergency was in place.
After coming to power in January 2009, the AL-led government made no move to hold the polls. Its indifference to holding the election allowed Khoka and councillors to stay in office until their removal in Decemberlastyear.
In November last year, the government split the DCC into two by amending the relevant law and removed Khoka and all councillors from office. The amendment made it mandatory for the EC to hold the polls by the end of February this year.
The EC led by Huda expressed its inability to hold the polls by the stipu-
lated time as its tenure was to expire early February.
The government again amended the relevant law on February 28 and extended the time limit for holding the polls to May 29.
And the new EC finally announced the election schedule yesterday.
Flanked by four election commissioners, the CEC at the EC Secretariat conference room told journalist that the aspirants would have to file applications for candidacy by April 19.
The nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 22 and 23. The last date for withdrawal of candidacy is May 2.
The EC appointed Regional Election Officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed as the returning officer (RO) for DCC North and Director General of Electoral Training Institute Khandaker Mizanur Rahman the RO for DCC South.
It also appointed 31 election officials as assistant returning officers to assist thetwoROs.