National

DNCC by-polls to be held on Feb 28

The by-election to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral post will be held on February 28.

Election Commission (EC) Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed announced the election schedule at a press conference after the 43rd meeting of the Commission at Nirbachan Bhaban this evening, reports BSS.

Elections to the councillor and reserved councillor posts in the newly extended 36 wards in DNCC and 18 wards under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) will be held on the same day.

As per the schedule, the last date of submission of nomination papers is January 30 next and the scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on February 2. The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is February 9.

The tenure of the new mayor will be till April 2020 while tenure of the new councillors of the newly extended wards will be till the city corporations’ tenure.

Elections to the DNCC and DSCC were held on April 28, 2015. But, the mayoral post of the DNCC was vacant since DNCC mayor Annisul Huq died on November 30 in 2017.

On January 9, 2018, the Commission announced the election schedule for holding the by-polls to the DNCC mayoral post on February 26 on the same year. But, the election was postponed following a High Court order on a writ petition over boundary demarcation.

On January 16 this year, the High Court cleared the way for holding election to the city corporation mayoral post and polls in the 36 new wards under the two city corporations.