EC postpones CCC elections, 2 by-polls
The Election Commission has postponed Chattogram City Corporation elections and two other by-polls due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"Elections to Chattogram City Corporation and the by-polls of Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 have been postponed for an indefinite period," Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Md Alamgir said after a commission meeting yesterday.
"The commission made these decisions taking health risks into consideration," he said at a briefing at the EC media centre.
The commission will fix new dates (for the elections) when the health department announces that the country is free of the novel coronavirus risk, he added.
The EC took the decision after the second death -- a 73-year-old who tested positive for coronavirus -- had been reported and four more people were detected with Covid-19. Health Minister Zahid Maleque, at a press briefing at the office of the Directorate General of Health Services in Mohakhali, said that with the new cases, the total number of confirmed cases is 24.
The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and the by-polls of Bogura-1 and Jashore-6 were scheduled for March 29.
The EC on February 16 announced the schedule of the upcoming CCC elections slated for March 29. Electioneering had started across the city since March 9 and the Election Commission has banned the use of laminated posters while campaigning.
According to the EC office, six mayoral candidates, 56 candidates in reserved seats for women and 161 councillor candidates in general wards were vying in city corporation elections.
But many candidates, including those of BNP, urged the commission to postpone the elections.
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