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The Election Commission (EC) plans to spend Tk 10.08 crore to buy 51,200 eco-friendly banners, an equal number of dropdown banners and 130,000 leaflets for the upcoming union parishad, municipality, upazila and city corporation elections, even though it is yet to set the dates for the polls.
The commission plans to complete the procurement between October 12 this year and June 17 next year, with the expenditure to be met from the revenue budget.
The EC today published its Annual Procurement Plan (APP) on its website as part of preparations for holding local government elections in the current fiscal year.
According to the APP, the EC has allocated Tk 4.15 crore to purchase 51,200 eco-friendly banners, 51,200 dropdown banners and 130,000 leaflets for the union parishad elections.
The EC has allocated another Tk 4.15 crore to purchase the same quantities of banners and leaflets for the upazila elections.
However, for the upazila polls, the commission plans to complete the procurement between January 7 and June 17 next year.
The EC also plans to spend Tk 98 lakh on banners and leaflets for city corporation elections, Tk 60 lakh for municipality elections, and Tk 20 lakh on banners, festoons and leaflets for various by-elections and publicity for National Voters’ Day on March 2 next year.
Last Monday, the EC announced tentative dates for the upcoming union parishad election, saying it would hold the polls in seven phases, with the first phase beginning on November 12.
The following day, two ministers, including the LGRD state minister, and an adviser to the prime minister claimed that the government was unaware of the EC’s tentative date announcement.
The EC today held interdepartmental talks with 27 heads of ministries, divisions and law enforcement agencies to discuss preparations for the local polls, the law and order situation and finalise the date for the union parishad election.
After the meeting, the commission said that it was yet to fix the dates for the beginning of the union parishad elections and aimed to complete the local government elections, particularly the union parishad polls, before June 6 next year, citing the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination schedule, potential floods and their impact on primary and secondary education.
It also said it would review the tentative windows for holding the elections in November and December, when annual examinations are scheduled to take place.
Speaking about the union parishad elections, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said, “We see some space in January. However, Ramadan is expected to begin around February 7 or 8, and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams will start immediately afterwards. Then, between SSC and the HSC exams, beginning June 6, there is another window. The schedule is extremely tight, so further sideline coordination is needed.”
Bangladesh has 4,580 union parishads, 500 upazila parishads, 330 municipalities, 61 zila parishads, and 13 city corporations.
No local government elections have been held in more than two years, leaving the commission with a backlog as the tenure of many bodies has already expired.
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