The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Under a new provision being incorporated in the draft of the Representative of Public Order (RPO), the Election Commission would be able to cancel the candidatures if the candidates were found that they provided false information through affidavit to it.

On the other hand, the EC would ask the Speaker to remove Members of Parliament (MPs) from their posts and suggest the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives to cancel the membership of concerned local body candidates if it is proved after the gazette notification of the election results or the candidates' oaths that they provided inaccurate information.

Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said this yesterday while briefing journalist at his office.

He said the Commission also will seek the removal of an individual who had breached the rules and had already been elected to a local government body.

Sakhawat Hossain said district level investigation committees would be set up to detect inaccurate or falsified information through scrutiny of a candidate's nomination papers.

He referred that providing eight pieces of information, including an income and expenditure statement, an account of election spending and educational qualifications are now mandatory.

The candidates will have to submit some specific information along with their nomination papers. We have made a format to facilitate the candidates to provide the information, he said.

About the voter registration programme, the Election Commissioner said, "The progress is so far so good. More than 5.10 crore voters have already been registered."

He hoped that the primary voter list would be completed by June if the weather permits while the voter list will be ready by the end of September or the first week of October.

"We can announce the complete election schedule for national polls only after receiving the final voter list," he said.

Asked whether the upazila elections would be held before the national election or both would be held simultaneously, he said there are many who doubt that there would no national election if the upazila elections are held first.

"We have always said we would not do anything that will hamper the national election," he said.

The EC roadmap is to hold the national election before the end of 2008, he said, adding that the EC feels that various problems would emerge if there were no elected government in the country.

On elections to the four city corporations and seven municipalities where the tenure had expired, he said the schedules would be announced after the amended local government ordinance comes from the ministry.

Shakhawat Hossain said the LGRD Ministry has in principle approved the draft of a new law on local government. We're expecting to get it in hand within a week," Sakhawat Hossain said.

He said the EC is planning to hold elections to Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet city corporations and seven pourashovas from April 22 to May 29.

The pourashovas are: Shariatpur, Sitakunda, Cox's Bazar, Gopalganj, Sreepur, Fulbaria and Manikganj.