The Election Commission has asked those seeking nominations in the by-elections of the two city corporations of Dhaka to remove all advance campaign contents, including posters and banners, from the city areas.
A letter, signed by the commission’s Joint Secretary (current affairs) Farhad Ahmed Khan, was sent to the Dhaka divisional commissioner on Sunday, asking him to take necessary action in this regard by January 6.
According to the letter, the commission plans to hold the elections to the mayoral, general and reserved councillor posts in the extended 18 wards of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on the second week of January.
It also wants to hold the elections to the general and reserved councillor posts in the extended 18 wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) on the last week of February.
The schedules are yet to be announced.
However, many have started lobbying and campaigning across the city even before getting their nominations, breaching the electoral rules.
In view of that, the commission has urged the nomination seekers to remove all posters, banners, festoons, billboards, and wall writings used as part of their advance campaigns in all areas under DNCC and DSCC by 12am of January 6.
If they do not, legal actions would be taken in line with the electoral rules, which maintains that any offender would be awarded either a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment or a fine of up to Tk50,000 or both sentences.
Beside these, the Election Commission also holds the power to cancel anyone’s candidacy under various circumstances in line with the code of conduct and laws.
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