UZ polls schedules come ‘as relief for ruling party’

The announcement of schedules for the staggered upazila parishad elections came as a relief for the ruling Awami League as this will keep away its arch political rival BNP from going for any further movement for fresh polls following the much-talked-about January 5 national election. This year the elections to nearly 480 out of the 487 upazila parishads of the country will be held in six phases by June next. The first phase elections to 98 upazila parishads will be held on February 19, while the second phase polls in 117 upazila parishads on February 27. This was announced by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on January 19. Soon after the announcement of the election schedules, aspirant candidates from both Awami League and BNP jumped on their respective campaign wagons along with other candidates to win the hearts of voters. As a result, the highly tense situation that was prevailing in the country after the 10th parliamentary elections eased to a great extent. “The announcement of upazila parishad elections was a relief for the ruling party as the whole country, especially the rural areas, was immediately caught by election fever that was absent in the January 5 general election,”  a front line leader of Awami League, wishing anonymity, told UNB. However, talking to the news agency, AL presidium member Nuh-Ul-Alam Lenin said: “The election schedules were announced by the Election Commission. They (EC) did not discuss anything about this with the Awami League.”