The Election Commission (EC) will take decision on holding the local government elections after assessing the ground realities, said EC Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed here on Thursday.
He said preparations for the local government elections are already underway, with the voter list ready, necessary electoral materials available, and polling centres already prepared.
The secretary made the remarks while briefing the journalists after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and a delegation from UNESCO at the commission headquarters here.
“We have to understand the local realities. These include the SSC examinations, Ramadan, various religious festivals and national events. We will come up with a proper solution after taking these issues into consideration,” he said.
Responding to a question about the election schedule, the EC secretary said the state minister for Local Government had spoken about holding the local government elections between January and June.
“We have received a good reference. Based on that, we may be able to move forward with the remaining work,” he said, adding that he would inform the commission about the matter and provide the necessary reference.
Regarding the meeting with the UNESCO delegation, Akhter Ahmed said the commission has a project with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) related to ballots.
“The project includes arrangements for training. The delegation came to discuss with the CEC how different issues could be incorporated into their training programme and how their work plan could be advanced,” he said.
He added that discussions were also held on arranging training for the media personnel, members of the law-enforcement agencies, officials of the Election Commission Secretariat and field-level election officials.
The EC secretary further said an inter-ministerial meeting was held on September 17, where various opinions and proposals were presented, including suggestions concerning the election timetable.
“Our colleagues have also made various proposals. Therefore, I do not think we can reach a conclusive decision based solely on those proposals at this stage,” he said.