Zila Parishad polls schedule announced

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday announced the schedule of the district council elections, which will be held on December 28. This is the first time that polling will be held for district councils in 61 districts across the country to elect people’s representatives.
The date of submission of nominations is December 1 and the scrutiny of nominations will be held on December 3 and 4. The date of withdrawal of nominations is December 11, the CEC said. The election symbols will be allocated on December 12 and voting will start at 9am and end at 2pm.
The local government had earlier fixed December 28 as the date of district council elections, when representatives of the councils will be elected by indirect votes of people’s representatives.
According to the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, a district council consists of a chairman, 15 members and five women members, who will be elected representatives of different local government bodies like city corporations, upazila parishads, municipalities and union parishads.
Those eligible for voting are the mayor and councillors, if any, of city corporations, the chairman and vice-chairmen of upazila parishads, the mayor and councillors of municipalities, and the chairman and members of union parishads. Under the four local bodies, there will be around 67,000 elected representatives who will cast their votes to elect the chairmen and members of district councils.
Most of the voters will be from union parishads. Currently, there are 4,500 union parishads in the country. In each union, there are 13 elected representatives on an average and the total number will be around 60,000. There are around 1,500 representatives in 488 upazilas, some 5,500 representatives in 320 municipalities and about 550 representatives in 11 city corporations.
Local government sources said on December 15, 2011, the Awami League-led alliance government appointed district administrators in 61 district councils—almost all of them are AL leaders—except the three Chittagong Hill Tracts districts to strengthen zila parishads.
However, the Constitution states that elected representatives should run the local government bodies. After the administrators were appointed, different bodies and persons, including the Local Government Division, said the district council elections would be held within six months. But no election was held. The Awami League-led government annulled the Zila Parishad Act, 1988, in 2000, and passed the District Council Act, 2000, with a provision for direct polls. But no elections to the councils have been held so far, allowing bureaucrats to run those bodies. Later, on October 6, Parliament passed the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016. According to the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, if any administrator of a district council wants to be a candidate, he or she has to quit the post. However, the tenure of unelected administrators will end by December. District election officers will act as returning officers while the upazila election officers will function as assistant returning officers. This is the first time that the candidates will be able to submit their nominations online.

Zila Parishad polls schedule announced

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday announced the schedule of the district council elections, which will be held on December 28. This is the first time that polling will be held for district councils in 61 districts across the country to elect peoples representatives. The date of submission of nominations is December 1 and the scrutiny of nominations will be held on December 3 and 4. The date of withdrawal of nominations is December 11, the CEC said. The election symbols will be allocated on December 12 and voting will start at 9am and end at 2pm. The local government had earlier fixed December 28 as the date of district council elections, when representatives of the councils will be elected by indirect votes of peoples representatives. According to the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, a district council consists of a chairman, 15 members and five women members, who will be elected representatives of different local government bodies like city corporations, upazila parishads, municipalities and union parishads. Those eligible for voting are the mayor and councillors, if any, of city corporations, the chairman and vice-chairmen of upazila parishads, the mayor and councillors of municipalities, and the chairman and members of union parishads. Under the four local bodies, there will be around 67,000 elected representatives who will cast their votes to elect the chairmen and members of district councils. Most of the voters will be from union parishads. Currently, there are 4,500 union parishads in the country. In each union, there are 13 elected representatives on an average and the total number will be around 60,000. There are around 1,500 representatives in 488 upazilas, some 5,500 representatives in 320 municipalities and about 550 representatives in 11 city corporations. Local government sources said on December 15, 2011, the Awami League-led alliance government appointed district administrators in 61 district councilsalmost all of them are AL leadersexcept the three Chittagong Hill Tracts districts to strengthen zila parishads. However, the Constitution states that elected representatives should run the local government bodies. After the administrators were appointed, different bodies and persons, including the Local Government Division, said the district council elections would be held within six months. But no election was held. The Awami League-led government annulled the Zila Parishad Act, 1988, in 2000, and passed the District Council Act, 2000, with a provision for direct polls. But no elections to the councils have been held so far, allowing bureaucrats to run those bodies. Later, on October 6, Parliament passed the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016. According to the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, if any administrator of a district council wants to be a candidate, he or she has to quit the post. However, the tenure of unelected administrators will end by December. District election officers will act as returning officers while the upazila election officers will function as assistant returning officers. This is the first time that the candidates will be able to submit their nominations online.