Tenures of 113 upazila councils expire in Feb, schedules next week

Hot on the heels of the much-talked-about national election 2014, the Election Commission (EC) appears to go for local body polls - this time in Upazila Parishads, reports UNB.
As the tenures of 113 Upazila Parishads in 48 districts are going to expire in between February 19 and 28, the EC is likely to announce election schedules for the local government units next week.
A highly-placed source at the EC told UNB that the commission will complete the elections to the Upazila Parishads as soon as possible to maintain the deadlines and it will most likely declare the polls schedules for more than 100 Upazilas on Sunday.
This time the EC gets only 30-32 days to complete the election process in the Upazilas, even if the election schedules are declared early next week.
Despite having a legal obligation to complete the polls process within 180 days before the expiry of the tenure, the EC could not go for the elections in the Upazila Parishads earlier due to its huge involvement in the January 5 parliamentary elections.
The five-year tenures of the Upazilas started with the first sitting of the incumbent elected representatives after the countrywide Upazila Parishad elections on January 22, 2009.
The tenure of Borhanuddin Upazila in Bhola will expire on February 19, while that of Tangail Sadar Upazila on February 21 and Nakla in Sherpur, Biyanibazar in Sylhet on February 22. The election deadline of the rest 109 Upazilas will end in between February 24 and 28.
The tenures of most of the country's 486 Upazilas will complete by May this year.
The tenures of 113 Upazilas will end in February, while that of 221 other Upazilas in March, 37 Upazilas in April, 86 Upazilas in May, 18 Upazilas in June and five Upazila by September next.
However, the tenure of Tarakanda in Mymensingh will expire at the end of 2018.
The Election Commission will have to arrange the polls in the Upazilas before the expiry the deadline.
Besides, the maiden polls in four newly formed Upazila Parishads - Taltoli of Barguna, Rangabali in Patuakhali, Kalukhali in Rajbari, Bijoynagar in Brahmanbaria - are yet to be held.
Besides, election in Daudkandi Upazila of Comilla got stuck in legal labyrinth as the gazette of its 2009 election results could not yet be published due to legal complexities.
The commission considers arranging the countrywide Upazila Parishad elections in phases with a view to ensuring foolproof security for the voters and election-friendly environment so that the polls are held peacefully unlike the 10th general election.