EC will not interfere in joint forces drive

The Election Commission will not interfere in the ongoing joint forces’ drive against violence at different parts of the country unless it does not hamper the work of the countrywide staggered upazila polls, beginning on February 19.
“If the joint forces’ operation doesn’t impede our electoral works, we won’t make any comment in this regard,” Election Commissioner Md Shah Nawaz told reporters at his EC Secretariat office  Sunday.
But, he said, the commission will ask the government to suspend the joint forces’ drive if it hampers the polls tasks, according to a news agency.
Meanwhile, 1732 aspirants for the posts of chairman, vice chairman and the post of vice chairman exclusively for women filed nomination papers in 98 upazila parishads before the deadline that expired Saturday, EC sources said.