Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday issued show-cause notices on 12 councillor aspirants in the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) elections for violating the electoral code of conduct.
“The notices were issued for not removing their electoral posters within the deadline,” Mihir Sarwar Morshed, Returning Officer of the DSCC, said while talking to reporters at his Segunbagicha office in the city.
The Retuning Officer served the notices on behalf of the EC. However, no show-cause notice was issued to any prospective candidates in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections for the code violation. Returning Officer of DNCC Shah Alam said they would also take actions against the advance campaigners.
The elections to two City Corporations of Dhaka and the CCC will be held on April 28. The deadline of nomination papers submission is March 29.
Announcing the polls schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on March 18 asked the aspirants, who are using billboards and posters for election campaigns violating the law, to remove their posters within 48 hours. The stipulated time concluded on Friday
Visiting different areas in Dhaka on Monday, it was seen that billboards and posters of some aspiring mayor and councillor candidates were still visible on roadside walls, fences, buildings and other establishments. However, some of them pulled down their posters following the EC’s instruction.
According to the law, any candidate or anyone on behalf of him can’t start election campaign by pasting posters and other activities 21 days before the polling date. A candidate will be fined up to Tk 50,000 or sentenced to maximum six months in jail if he/she violates the law.
Meanwhile, contestants for the mayor and councillor posts in the DSCC, the DNCC and the CCC have been collecting their nomination papers. Some collected the nomination papers on Monday.
Among them, AL-backed aspirant Anisul Haque from DNCC, former MP and actress Sarah Begum Kobori from DNCC and detained BNP leader Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu from DSCC. Pintu’s lawyer collected the nomination paper on his behalf.
