Elections to 5 city corporations to be held between 23 May and 29 June

Elections to five city corporations -- Barishal, Gazipur, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Sylhet -- will be held between 23 May and 29 June.

"The polls will be held in three phases," said election commission secretariat secretary Jahangir Alam after a meeting of commissioners.

Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal presided over the meeting held at the EC office Wednesday.

"Preliminary discussion on elections to the Gazipur, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal and Khulna, was held at the commissioners' meeting," Jahangir Alam added.

He said the EC will announce the schedules in mid-April.

He said after the holy month of Ramadan, SSC examinations will be held till 23 May and Eid-ul-Azha will be held in June. "The EC has planned to hold the polls of five city corporations before the Eid-ul-Azha and after the end of SSC examinations," he added.

Alam said as per the law, the EC has obligation to hold election to a city corporation in the last 180 days of the corporation's five-year tenure.

He said the meeting was informed about the implementation and progress of the EC's roadmap for the national election. Registration of new political parties, publication of draft demarcation of new constituencies and scrutiny of organizations willing to oversee polls are underway, he added.

 About the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the EC secretary said 110,000 EVMs will have to be repaired as per the report of Machine Tolls Factory. The EC will try its best to repair these EVMs for being used in the 12th parliamentary elections.

"The EC's final decision about the use of EVMs in number of seats will depend on availability of funds from the finance ministry. The EC will soon send a letter to the finance ministry in this regard," he added.