Govt unaware of EC’s announcement of UP election dates: Mir Shahe Alam

State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam has said that the government is unaware of the announcement of dates for the Union Parishad (UP) elections.

The state minister made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the Secretariat this morning, Tuesday.

Earlier, on Monday, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said that the Union Parishad elections would be held in seven phases.

Mir Shahe Alam said the government knew nothing about the announcement of the dates for the UP elections. The Ministry of Local Government was also unaware of the matter.

He said there had been no correspondence between the government and the election commission on the issue, nor had there been any discussion through any other channel.

The state minister for local government also said the election commission is an independent body with constitutional authority to conduct elections.

In this regard, he said that, in accordance with established practice, the EC announces the dates of local government elections after discussions with the government. Preparatory meetings and law-and-order committee meetings are held, involving various matters, including the budget.

Mir Shahe Alam said there had been no discussion between the election commission and either the Ministry of Local Government or the government. “The government knows nothing about this,” he said.

The EC announced yesterday that the Union Parishad elections would be held in seven phases.

Speaking to journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said the tentative date for the first phase of UP elections had been set for 12 November. Local government elections will begin with this phase.

The election commissioner further said the tentative dates for the subsequent phases are 13 December for the second phase, 30 December for the third, 17 January next year for the fourth, 4 February for the fifth, 22 April for the sixth, and 27 May for the seventh.

Earlier, in August this year, the election commission had announced a schedule and planned to begin the local government elections in October.

In June, in response to a question in parliament, the then local government minister had said that local government elections could begin gradually across the country from September or October, after the monsoon season. That, however, did not happen.