The elections to 323 Union Parishads of the country are likely to be postponed in the wake of a spike in coronavirus infection. The elections to 11 municipalities and the by-polls for Lakshmipur-2 constituency, which are also scheduled for April 11, may also be postponed.
The opinion to postpone the polls came at a meeting of the Election Commission on Monday. However, the EC will finalise the decision at its meeting tomorrow (April 1).
The Election Commission held the Monday’s meeting after the government reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day. However, all kinds of public gatherings have been limited following a government notification issued on Tuesday.
EC’s Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath, who attended the Monday’s meeting, said that the commission sat the emergency meeting after the government issued several directives to control the spread of Covid-19. The meeting decided to hold the scheduled elections until March 31, he added.
Voting in Jashore Sadar and Madaripur’s Kalkini municipalities and a ward each in Thakurgaon Sadar and Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj municipalities will be held today (Wednesday).
Health experts fear that if the first phase of UP election is held in the scheduled time, the Covdi-19 will spread at villages. Election experts are also in favor of not voting on April 11. However, citing examples in abroad, some others said that it is possible to hold the elections in accordance with health rules.
Prof Dr Benazir Ahmed, an expert on public health, said that the rate of Covid-19 infection is now on the rise. Against this backdrop, if the election is held in various places, the consequences will not be pleasant for us.
Former Election Commissioner Munsef Ali said that it seems that the election cannot be held. The Election Commission has the opportunity to reschedule the April 11 elections.
Elections to a total of 323 unions from 63 upazilas of 20 districts are scheduled to be held in the first phase of balloting to the lowest tier of the local government on April 11. March 18 was the last date for submission of nomination papers for the first phase of UP polls.
A total of 73 ruling Awami League chairman candidates in the first phase were elected uncontested. The Election Commission released the data after the deadline for withdrawing nomination papers for the UP elections.
Of the about 4,500 Union Parishads across the country, more than 4,300 are eligible for polls this year. The voting to the UPs will take place in several phases.
The elections in UP chairman post will see direct participation of political parties for the second time this year. However, the non-party candidates will take part in elections of members and reserved women seats.
The last UP elections were held in six phases in 2016. According to the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act, the election should be held within the period of 180 days of the expiration of the term of the Union Parishad.
The voting in UPs was set to begin from March, but it was fixed for April because of delay in updating voter lists.
