The hope for holding the election to bifurcated Dhaka City Corporations any time soon fade as the polls process lost way in fresh bureaucratic tangles.
The elections to the two city corporations — Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) — are unlikely to be held before the next parliamentary elections, now a few months away.With the growing complexities over demarcation of wards No 55, 56 and 57, the Election Commission seems not hopeful of arrangement of the elections to the two city corporations despite the commission’s plan to hold the polls soon after Eid-ul Fitr.
On June 4, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said the local government ministry had been asked to solve the complexities soon. “The election schedules for the DCCs would be announced after Eid-ul Fitr, if the complexities could be removed,” he said.
After the commission meeting on Monday, he, however, told reporters the demarcation of wards is the business of the local government ministry. They do not have any update over unfolding the complexities over demarcation of wards.
The commission cannot prepare the CDs of voter lists of the three wards as the local government ministry is yet to solve the complexities, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Zabed Ali told UNB.
“We’re ready to hold the elections, but the polls arrangement is not possible without preparing the voter lists of the wards,” he said. “We’ve asked the local government ministry to demarcate the wards following the Metropolitan Survey before the Eid, but yet to get response from the ministry.” he said on Wednesday.
On April 9, 2012, CEC Rakibuddin announced the election schedules for the split DCCs, fixing 24 May as date for voting. But, a writ petition stalled the election process halfway through. The HC stayed the polls for three months on April 16, asking the local government ministry to demarcate DCC wards and the EC to update voter lists of the two city corporations.
The higher court also extended the stay order on three occasions. Later, the court quashed the legal bar to the election on May 13 this year.
But fresh complexities arose as the Local Government Ministry demarcated the wards Cadastral Survey (CS), which hampered compactness of locality, lane and street. Hence, the CDs of the voter lists cannot be prepared as voters of the same locality, lane and street overlap in more than two wards.
Of the three, ward No 55 and 56 are completely new areas of the city and the ward No 57 where 13 localities of Sultanganj union were included. The city dwellers have seen no DCC election for more than 10 years as the last polls in the integrated city corporation were held on April 25, 2002.
The five-year tenure of the elected DCC body expired on May 14, 2007. The previous Election Commission, led by ATM Shamsul Huda, also failed to hold the polls. On November 29, 2011, the government formed two city corporations — DNCC and DSCC — in the capital splitting the integrated DCC. DNCC was comprised of 36 wards, while DSCC of 56 wards. Later ward no 57 was included in the DSCC area. – UNB
