The curtain on the election campaign in three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong is set to fall today (Sunday) midnight, 32 hours before the balloting, reports UNB.
As per the election rules, all types of rally, procession and showdown will remain prohibited in the election areas from Sunday midnight to Thursday midnight.
No one can call or join any rally, or can organise or attend any public rally or procession or showdown in the election areas from 32 hours before the voting to 48 hours after the balloting, according to the clause 74 of the Local Government (City Corporation) Election Rule, 2010.
Besides, nobody would be able to resort to any unruly behaviour or intimidation and coercion to voters or people engaged in election duty or brandish or use any arms during the period. If any one does so, she/he would be jailed for at least six months and maximum seven years as per the law.
Some 500 magistrates along with the army and the regular law enforcement agencies will be kept deployed for four days from Sunday to Wednesday in the three cities-Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) -- to punish violators of the election code of conduct.
As there are 134 wards in three cities -57 in DSCC, 36 in DNCC and 41 in CCC-some four magistrates will be in each ward on average in Dhaka and Chittagong to conduct the mobile courts for the four days.
The magistrates with some 80,000 regular law enforcers, including member of police, RAB, BGB, Coast Guard and Ansar, will deal with the incidents of election violence through summary trials.
Only 18 executive magistrates are there on election duty in the three cities after the announcement of the election schedules. But 441 more executive magistrates and 33 judicial magistrates would be kept deployed from Sunday to Wednesday in the election areas.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has imposed restriction on motorcycle movement in the election areas for four days from Saturday midnight to Wednesday midnight.
According to the commission's circular no-7 issued for the city polls, the commission imposed the restriction on the movement of taxicab, auto-rickshaw, microbus, jeep, pickup van, car, bus, truck, tempo, launch and speedboat from Monday midnight to Tuesday midnight in the election areas.
But the restriction will not be applicable for candidates, law-enforcement agencies, administration, approved election observers, election agents. However, observers and polling agents will have to use the stickers issued by the Election Commission in that case.
A total of 1180 mayoral and councillor candidates are running for 182 posts in the elections to the three city corporations, where some 6.0 million people would have voting rights under 2701 polling stations in the capital and the port city.
In DSCC, 20 contenders are contesting the election for the mayoral post, while 97 females for 19 reserved seats and 390 contestants for 57 general councillor posts. There are 18,70,753 voters -10,09,286 males and 8,61,467 females - under 4,746 booths of 889 polling stations.
In DNCC, 16 candidates are running for the mayoral post, while 89 females for 12 reserved seats and 281 contenders for 36 general councillor posts.
