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the commission meeting either at the end of this week or early next week. The commission will sit for the meeting after Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin’s health condition improves, as he is scheduled to undergo foot surgery this week.”

The commission, however, has not yet received any formal letter from the Local Government Division regarding the arrangement of the local polls.

The EC also said the draft code of conduct will be sent to political parties for their opinion.

Asked about the major changes in the code of conduct, the EC senior secretary said the elections will be non-partisan. Individuals accused under the International Crimes Tribunal Act or the Anti-Terrorism Act, and fugitives, will not be allowed to contest.

He added that independent candidates will not be required to collect signatures from one percent of voters. The use of posters, electronic voting machines (EVMs), and postal ballots will also be excluded.

Bangladesh has 13 city corporations, 500 upazila councils, 61 district councils, and 4,581 union councils.

No local government elections have been held in more than two years, leaving the commission with a backlog as the tenure of many bodies has already expired.

EC data shows that of the 4,581 union councils, 3,632 will be eligible for polls by the end of August, while another 343 will become eligible by December. Due to various complications, 104 union parishads are currently unfit for elections, of which 79 are stalled due to legal disputes, 18 due to boundary issues, and seven due to voter list complications.

Earlier, on May 19, LGRD State Minister Mir Shahe Alam said the government is preparing to facilitate local government elections in phases, beginning this September-October after the monsoon and continuing into early next year.