UP poll dates not finalised yet: EC

The Election Commission’s (EC) tentative schedule for the upcoming Union Parishad (UP) elections has not yet been finalised, Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker said on Tuesday.

He said the final decision on the election schedule would be taken at an inter-ministerial meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 17.

Anwarul made the remarks while speaking to the media on Tuesday, a day after the EC disclosed a preliminary plan to hold the UP elections in seven phases as part of the upcoming local government elections.

According to the EC’s initial plan, the first phase of voting could be held on November 12, followed by the second phase on December 13 and the third phase on December 30.

The remaining phases are tentatively scheduled for January 17, February 4, April 22 and May 27 next year, respectively.

However, the proposed dates remain subject to a final decision following consultations between the relevant ministries and the Election Commission, Anwarul said.

The clarification came after State Minister for Local Government Mir Shah Alam said earlier on Tuesday that the government had not been informed about the EC’s proposed seven-phase schedule.

He said the Election Commission is an independent constitutional body with the authority to conduct elections, but claimed that the government had neither received any official communication from the EC nor held discussions with it regarding the proposed UP election schedule.

On Monday, EC Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah had said that the commission had made an initial decision to conduct the UP elections in seven phases.

The Election Commission is expected to finalise the schedule after the inter-ministerial meeting on Thursday.