MOHIUDDIN ALAMGIR

It will not be feasible to hold local elections before the national polls mainly because of the lengthy process and logistics involved, say Election Commission officials.

The acknowledgement comes at a time when major political parties are at odds over which election should be held first.

The commission says it is preparing to hold the general election in December, and its officials believe that updating the voter roll -- registering new voters and dropping the names of the deceased people -- will not be complete before June.

Besides, holding elections to local government bodies -- city corporation, upazila parishad, municipality council, and union parishad -- takes about a year and a half, said Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker on Thursday.

This means even if the Election Commission were to begin the process of local polls now, there would not be enough time to hold the national polls in December.

An election commissioner, requesting anonymity, said, “We are also observing the law and order situation. We all know the morale of law enforcers has been low since August 5. It would not be wise to hold local elections when police morale is still low.”

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus had earlier said the parliamentary election would probably be held by this year-end.

On Thursday, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said, “We are not thinking about local elections at the moment. Local polls usually take place in phases. If we begin local elections at the moment, it will be almost impossible to hold the parliamentary election by December or January.”

He told reporters in Dhamrai that the commission’s main focus was on the parliamentary election.

“We have not received any request from the government regarding local elections,” he added.

POLITICAL PARTIES AT ODDS

The BNP and its allies want the national polls before local ones while the Jamaat and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee want the opposite.

Mia Golam Parwar, secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, told a rally on Friday that to reduce public sufferings, local government elections should A

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