EC
NID services will be made dynamic, says law minister
The government will recruit new local level officials to make NID services more efficient and dynamic, Law Minister Anisul Haque said in parliament on Monday.
Anisul, who is in charge of the Election Commission Secretariat on parliamentary affairs, said the government has created posts of thana and upazila level assistant election officer and a data entry operator.
Also read: Govt. must sit with EC to discuss transferring NID services from it, says CEC
The NID service will be more dynamic once the recruitment process for these two posts is completed, he said.
The minister was replying to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Shamim Haider Patwary.
The law minister said a total of 7,32,363 people in the country have so far registered to get online National Identity Card services.
He said that NID services have been decentralized for speedy disposal of applications.
Central and field level officials have been given the power to dispose of applications according to the type of application, he added.
Also read: NID services to be provided from Home Ministry: Minister
Replying to a question of AKM Rahmatullah from Dhaka-11, LGRD Minister Tajul Islam said arsenic screening is being conducted in 3,200 unions in 335 upazilas of 54 districts.
Responding to a question from MP Didarul Alam, Minister for Liberation War Affairs Akam Mozammel Haque who is in charge of the Prime Minister's Office on parliamentary affairs, said the government has allotted 1,832.27 acres of land of Sahebganj Sugar Mill in Rangpur Sugar Mills to set up Rangpur EPZ.
He also said the government has also planned to set up EPZ at Prembagh Union's Chengutia under Avoynagar Upazila in Jashore.
Also read: CEC wants NID services to stay under EC
Besides, another EPZ will be set up at Sadar Upazila in Patuakhali.
Construction of these EPZs will begin in the next financial year (2021-22) and will be completed in phases by 2024.
Rape attempt on Pori Moni: Boat Club expels Nasir from EC
Dhaka Boat Club expelled its member Nasir U Mahmood from the executive committee on Monday, hours after the real estate businessman was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape and murder popular actress Pori Moni.
The club took the unanimous decision at an EC meeting presided over by its President Dr Benazir Ahmed. It was attended by eight other EC committee members as well as club’s adviser Rubel Aziz.
The meeting also suspended the club membership of Nasir and three others, Tuhin Siddique Omi and Shah S Alam, said a statement from the club.
Also read: Pori Moni files sexual assault complaint against Uttara Club’s ex-president Nasiruddin, 5 others
The meeting formed a three-member inquiry committee and asked it to submit the findings before the EC committee within 72 hours.
The decision came in the wake of a sexual assault complaint filed by Pori Moni on Monday against Nasir and five others at Savar Model Police Station. The incident occurred at Dhaka Boat Club on Wednesday night.
Nasir, a former president of Uttara Club Ltd. and Chairman of Kunj Properties, were arrested along with four others from Uttara area on Monday afternoon, police said.
Also read: Pori Moni's plea for justice from PM causes sensation
The Dhaka Boat Club EC members observed that Nasir violated club rules by allowing guests inside the club premises after club hours, which is a major breach and goes against norms of the social club, read a statement signed by Dhaka Boat Club Secretary Lt Commander (retd) Md Tahsin Amin.
Covid-19: Elections of 163 union parishads, 9 municipalities postponed
Taking stock of the Covid-19 situation in the country, the Election Commission (EC) has postponed elections to 163 union parishads in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Noakhali, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.
Elections to 68 union parishads in Bagerhat, 34 in Khulna, 21 in Satkhira, 13 in Noakhali, 12 in Chattogram, and 15 in Cox's Bazar have been withheld, which were scheduled for June 21.
The commission has also decided to postpone elections to nine municipalities, out of 11, slated for the same date.
Also read: Covid positivity rate in Bangladesh hits 13.25 %, highest in 46 days
However, 204 other union parishads will go to the polls as per schedule on June 21; by-polls to Lakshmipur-2 will also be held as per schedule on the same date.
The decisions came at an urgent meeting of the commission Thursday amid an upward march of Covid-19 infections in the electoral areas.
Also read: By-elections: 94 aspirants collect nomination papers from the Awami League
The meeting also decided to reschedule by-polls to Dhaka-14, Cumilla-5 and Sylhet-3 to July 28 from July 14.
The commission postponed the polls after considering recommendations of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, local administration, and regional election officials, EC Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandakar said.
40 collect AL nomination papers for JS by-elections
A total of forty aspirants for the Awami League candidacy in the upcoming Dhaka-14, Sylhet-3 and Cumilla-5 by-elections collected the nomination papers in the first two days.
Awami League sources told UNB that eleven, nine and twenty aspirants collected the papers for Dhaka-14, Sylhet-3 and Cumilla-5 respectively.
The ruling party started the sale of nomination forms on Friday (June 4) and it will continue till June 10.
Also read: Fifth phase municipality polls: AL nomination board sits Saturday
Aspirants will be able to collect and submit their forms from 11am to 5pm from party president Sheikh Hasia's political office in Dhanmondi.
Chattogram EC official dies of Covid-19
An official of the Chattogram Election Commission died at a hospital in Dhaka on Friday, three days after testing positive for Covid-19.
Ataur Rahman, 45, was an election officer with the Chattogram EC district office.
He died while undergoing treatment at the Dhaka hospital, said Md Kamrul Alam, the Additional Election Officer of Chattogram.
Ataur was flown to Dhaka for treatment on March 25 after he complained of breathing difficulties and had high fever and cold. And he tested positive for Covid on March 29, Kamrul Alam said.
Meanwhile, for the third time in four days, Bangladesh recorded its highest daily coronavirus cases as the health authorities confirmed 6,469 new infections on Thursday afternoon.
The infection rate jumped to 22.94 percent from 19.9 percent of Wednesday’s when the country recorded 5,358 cases, the highest in months.
On Tuesday, 5,042 cases were recorded and the number was 5,181 on Monday. The fatalities reached 9,105 with 59 new deaths.
Covid surge: All elections slated for Apr 11 postponed
The Election Commission (EC) has postponed all elections scheduled for April 11 amid a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in recent days.
“Considering the overall coronavirus situation, the Commission has postponed the Laxmipur-2 by-polls, first phase election to 371 Union Parishads and the sixth phase election to 11 municipalities, which were all scheduled slated for April 11,” EC’s Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told reporters.
The decision came from a meeting in the afternoon at the Nirbachan Bhaban with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda in the chair.
Bangladesh has been recording more than 5,000 cases per day since Monday. On Thursday, the health authorities confirmed 6,469 cases, the highest-ever daily case count since the first ones were announced on March 20 last year.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records highest-ever daily cases, 59 deaths
Debnath said these elections would not be held until the covid situation improves. The parliamentary by-polls and elections to the local bodies would be held from the stage where they were postponed, he added.
He said the candidates will have to keep their campaign suspended until the fresh date is announced for balloting.
EC announced schedules for these elections on March 11.
The deadline for submission of nomination was March 18. The nomination papers were scrutinised on March 19 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature was March 24.
The countrywide Union Parishad elections were supposed to kick off with polls to 371 at 64 upazilas of 19 districts.
Meanwhile, the EC announced the sixth phase municipal election to 11 bodies. It has already held elections to some 230 municipalities in the first five phases between December 28 and February 28 last.
The Laxmipur-2 constituency fell vacant on January 28 after independent MP Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul was convicted by a Kuwait court for criminal offenses.
BNP demands reconstitution of EC
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday demanded the constitution of a new election commission with “competent persons”, saying that the present commission is “worse even than an obedient salve”.
Women voter number declines in Bangladesh
The number of voters in Bangladesh has increased to 11.17 crore (111.7 million) with the inclusion of 19 lakh fresh voters in the last one year, but the share of female voters has slightly declined to 49.33 percent from the previous 49.48 percent.
5th phase polls to 29 municipalities Sunday
The 5th phase election to 29 municipalities in 20 districts will be held with the use of electronic voting machines (EVM) on Sunday.
Chattagram polls: Dr Shahadat to file 3 cases against EC
BNP’s defeated mayoral candidate in the recently-held elections to the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Dr Shahadat Hossain on Sunday announced to file three cases against the Election Commission (EC) on charge of vote ‘rigging’ and results ‘manipulation’.