Dhaka Bureau: The Election Commission (EC) has decided to increase the amount of security for the post of Chairman in the Upazila Parishad elections by 10 times. Besides, the provision of the submission of a list with the supporting signature of the voter in the case of an independent candidate has been omitted.
This decision was taken at the meeting of the Election Commission on Tuesday, February 20. After the meeting, EC Secretary Jahangir Alam informed the reporters about this decision.
The EC secretary said that the security amount for the post of chairman will be increased from Tk 10,000 to Tk 1 lakh. It has been decided to increase the security for the post of vice chairman from 5 thousand to 75 thousand taka.
However, even though the EC has decided, these decisions are not being implemented now. These EC decisions will be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting. The Ministry will scrutinize it and send it back to the EC. After the EC reviews it and sends it back to the Law Ministry, the notification will be issued.
EC Secretary Jahangir Alam also said that now the candidates have to get one-eighth of the votes given to protect the collateral. A proposal to make it 15 percent was approved. That is, if a candidate does not get 15 percent of the votes cast, his security deposit will be forfeited. Apart from this, the proposal that colored posters can be printed along with black and white posters has also been approved.
Incidentally, the EC will elect 483 upazila parishads in four phases next May.
