Local government elections unlikely this year

Although the Election Commission (EC) initially planned to begin the local government elections with union parishad (UP) polls on 12 November, elections are now unlikely to be held this year.

Considering school annual examinations, followed by Ramadan and the SSC examinations, sources concerned see little prospect of holding the elections before May next year.

Asked about the government’s position on the possible timing of the local government elections, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam told Prothom Alo yesterday, Wednesday, that the Election Commission had called an inter-ministerial meeting on the local government elections.

Representatives of the relevant ministries and divisions would present their views and outline their state of preparedness at the meeting. Once their views had been received, it would be possible to have a clearer idea of when the elections could be held.

The Election Commission could then take its next decision after considering those views. It would not be right to specify any particular timeframe before the discussions at the meeting, he said.

Meanwhile, EC sources said a preparatory meeting had been called for today, Thursday, with various ministries, divisions and authorities in connection with the elections to local government bodies.

Officials from the Cabinet Division, the ministries of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Shipping, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information and Broadcasting, Local Government, and Primary and Mass Education, among others, have been invited to the meeting at the Election Commission building in Agargaon, Dhaka.

Government sources said the issue of students’ examinations and preparations was being given importance in determining the timing of the elections. The government does not want the elections to disrupt examinations. At the inter-ministerial meeting, proposals may be made to identify a suitable window for the polls by taking into account examinations scheduled for the end of this year and the first few months of next year, as well as Ramadan and Eid.

Considering examinations and Ramadan

According to the academic calendar for secondary and lower-secondary schools for the 2026 academic year, annual examinations are scheduled to begin in the third week of November and end in the first half of December.

Sources concerned said it would not be enough simply to ensure that elections were not held on examination days; the time required to prepare for and conduct the elections would also have to be taken into account. Government stakeholders are opposed to holding elections during this period to avoid any adverse impact on students.

The relevant ministries and divisions are also considering the period around the start of Ramadan, expected on 8 February next year, and Eid-ul-Fitr, expected on 10 March. The government does not want to hold elections during Ramadan or around Eid either.

The SSC and equivalent examinations are scheduled to begin soon after Eid. According to the schedule approved by the Ministry of Education, the examinations are due to start on 14 March next year and end on 15 April. The plan had initially been to begin the examinations in January, but the schedule was later changed. The government is also opposed to holding elections during this examination period.

Considering all these factors, government sources believe there is little prospect of the local government elections beginning before May next year. However, no decision has been made that the elections will be held in May either. A clearer picture of the possible timing may emerge after the ministries present their views at today’s (Thursday) meeting.

EC plan and government position

Last Monday, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanauallah announced the tentative dates for the union parishad elections. He said the EC planned to hold voting in the union parishads of 80 upazilas in the first phase on 12 November. Under the EC’s preliminary plan, the second and third phases were scheduled for 13 December and 30 December, respectively. The tentative dates for the remaining four phases were 17 January, 4 February, 22 April and 27 May next year.

After the schedule was announced, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam raised the issue of the government not having been consulted. Speaking to journalists at the Secretariat on Tuesday, he said the government and the Ministry of Local Government had not been informed about the announced dates. There had been no exchange of letters or other discussions with the government regarding the schedule, he said.

The state minister said the government was normally consulted before local government elections. Dates were announced after taking into consideration preparations, law and order, and budgetary matters.

Later that day, EC Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed explained that the dates under discussion were entirely preliminary. Based on preparatory discussions, five main phases and two additional phases had been included. The commission would finalise the schedule after obtaining the views of the relevant ministries, he said.

The Election Commission is responsible for organising and conducting union parishad elections and for setting the voting dates. Discussions are held with the government over preparations for the elections and the necessary support. Today’s inter-ministerial meeting has been convened for that purpose.

Fears of attempts to delay the elections

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed concern that a deliberate trend may be emerging to delay local government elections on various administrative and other pretexts.

At a press conference at the party’s central office yesterday, Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said that extending the tenure of unelected administrators would further delay people’s right to vote and elected representation. He called for the prompt announcement of a clear, time-bound election roadmap and urged the government not to interfere in the EC’s decisions.

Longer wait for elected representatives

There are 4,580 union parishads in Bangladesh. The most recent large-scale UP elections were held in several phases in 2021–22. In the first phase, voting was held in 204 union parishads on 21 June 2021, a large proportion of them in Barishal Division.

On that day alone, elections were held in 50 union parishads across nine upazilas of Barishal district. Five years have passed since those elections, as of this June.

However, elections to all types of local government bodies were not held at the same time. The most recent general elections to upazila parishads were held in 2024, while district council elections were held in October 2022.

In August 2024, administrators were appointed after the mayors of 12 city corporations were removed. As a result, it will also be necessary to determine separately which types of local government bodies will go to the polls first.

This time, there will be no party symbols in local government elections. The relevant law has already been amended to this effect.

The issue of union parishads whose terms have expired has also come to the fore amid discussions over the timing of the elections. Government officials have been assigned to oversee routine operations in 19 union parishads in Barishal.

Many other local government bodies are also being run by administrators. If the elections are postponed until May next year, people will have to wait even longer to get elected representatives in these institutions.