The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has feared chaos and violence in the upcoming Upazila Parishad polls.
"The election must be fair at any cost,” he said at a meeting held with all divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, regional election officers and superintendents of police at the auditorium of Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon in the capital on Thursday.
In his welcome address, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said: "Failure in this election may undermine the democratic continuity that was established in the last parliamentary polls. It has to be proved through a fair election that there is democracy in Bangladesh.”
Earlier, Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam said he does not see any threat of violence centring the upcoming Upazila Parishad polls.
The Upazila Parishad elections will proceed in four phases, with 152 upazilas in the first phase on May 8. Of the upazilas, elections to 22 upazilas will be held through electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 130 on ballot papers.
The second phase will be held on May 23, the third phase on May 29, and the fourth phase on June 5.
