EC to finalise local polls code July 21

EC to finalise local polls code July 21 As preparations for the local government elections gather pace, the Election Commission (EC) yesterday said it will finalise the code of conduct for the five tiers of local bodies at a meeting on July 21, before sending it to the law ministry for vetting. The commission said it will not hold any dialogue with political parties before the local polls, saying parliament is the appropriate forum for such discussions. “We will not hold any dialogue now. The ruling party, the opposition -- all parties are currently engaged in parliament. If they wish, they can discuss matters there,” Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told The Daily Star. The proposed code introduces tougher provisions, including the immediate disqualification of candidates for serious violations, shorter campaign periods, regulation of social media activities, and restrictions on the use of sound systems. He said the EC had reviewed 11 opinions on the draft code of conduct and incorporated only a few minor suggestions. No major changes are expected. On June 10, the EC published separate draft codes of conduct for elections to union parishads, upazila parishads, municipalities, zila parishads and city corporations, and sought feedback from the country’s 56 registered political parties by June 30. The proposed code introduces tougher provisions, including immediate disqualification of candidates for serious violations. Under the proposal, candidates or their agents found violating the code could be disqualified through a written order. It also proposes shorter campaign periods, regulation of social media activities, and restrictions on the use of sound systems. Masud said the draft recommends barring teachers of MPO-listed educational institutions, dual citizens, loan defaulters and guarantors of loan defaulters from contesting local elections. It also proposes including the Armed Forces Division in the definition of law enforcement agencies. The draft also proposes increasing candidates’ security deposits while removing the requirement for independent candidates to collect signatures from 1 percent of voters. Under the proposal, the security deposit for mayoral candidates in municipalities will be raised to Tk 1 lakh and for city corporations to Tk 1.5 lakh. The deposit for union parishad chairman candidates will increase from Tk 20,000 to Tk 25,000, while it will remain Tk 5,000 for women candidates, Masud said. The code of conduct for local government elections was last amended in 2016. The EC has already said local government elections are expected to begin with union parishad polls in the first half of October, with the schedule likely to be announced at the end of August. According to the commission, ballot boxes and election personnel are already in place, and discussions are underway on reducing the election budget.