The Election Commission (EC) considers the period from late October to next March as the most suitable time to begin local government elections, aiming to finalize all relevant electoral rules and codes of conduct by this June.

According to Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud, the commission plans to hold the grassroots polls in distinct phases to ensure peaceful voting and completely avoid the casualties and violence that marked local elections in the past.

As nearly all local government bodies currently lack elected representatives, leaving the public deprived of essential services, the EC thinks elections to union parishads and municipalities should be arranged first, while city corporation elections should be pushed to the final stage.

The commission estimates it will take approximately 10 to 12 months to completely finish the election cycle across all categories of local bodies.

As part of the nationwide preparation, the EC is currently revising separate rules and election codes for city corporations, municipalities, zila parishads, upazila parishads, and union parishads to modernize them and align the framework with amended local government laws.

These amendments, executed by the interim government and later ratified by Parliament, have restored non-partisan elections to the key posts of mayor and chairman, officially dropping the provision for using political party symbols.

The legal updates specifically amended the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act 2009, Local Government (Municipality) Act 2009, Upazila Parishad Act 1998, Zila Parishad Act 2000, and Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009.

Speaking to alocal media on Sunday, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud stated, “We want to complete updating and reform of the rules and codes of conduct related to all types of local government elections by June next.”

He explained that while separate rules will remain for different local bodies, the codes of conduct will be largely similar across all categories and will heavily mirror the code used during the peaceful February 12 parliamentary election.

Detailing the upcoming changes, Masud revealed that the use of physical posters will be banned, and stricter provisions will be incorporated to check misinformation, disinformation, and the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) particularly on social media.

Furthermore, the requirement for collecting signatures of a specific number of voters will be entirely removed, while the amount of security deposit for candidates will be raised to a rational level, excluding women contesting in reserved seats.

To ensure transparency, the EC will publish the draft rules on its website for at least 15 days to seek public opinions and suggestions from stakeholders.

The commission is also considering holding consultations with stakeholders on the proposed rules, though a final decision on that has not yet been taken.

Regarding the election timeframe, Masud reiterated that the period from late October to March next would be most suitable for the arrangement of elections.

Asked about the EC’s priority, he stated, “We will suggest holding elections based on needs. In that case, elections to union parishads and municipalities should come first and elections to city corporations should be held at the last stage.”

When attention was drawn to local body elections marred by violence in the past, Masud said the current election commission, headed by AMM Nasir Uddin, would be very careful to make the upcoming elections free from violence like the 13th parliamentary election that was most peaceful.

“We’ll be very careful so that there are no casualties in local body elections. We’ll arrange the staggered elections to deploy a larger number of law enforcers in the election areas,” he said, while emphasizing the need for cooperation from all stakeholders in maintaining a peaceful election environment.

He added that the EC would initially rely on regular law enforcement agencies—including the police, RAB, BGB, and Ansar—to maintain law and order during the elections, noting that if necessary, the armed forces may be deployed later.

According to official EC estimates, elections to 12 city corporations (excluding the newly formed Bogura city corporation), over 450 upazila parishads, more than 300 municipalities, and 61 zila parishads are already overdue and can legally be held immediately without legal complications.

Additionally, the legal timeframe for holding elections to around 600 union parishads began in April, making polls mandatory by this October, while the 180-day countdown for elections in more than 2,800 additional union parishads will commence by July.

Because local body elections are formally arranged at the request of the local government division, the EC will announce the official election schedules as soon as it receives a green signal from the government.

With Inputs from UNB