Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) polls are slated for tomorrow (Wednesday). The electoral campaign of the CCC ended formally on Monday. The nominees of Awami League and independent candidates for mayoral posts and councilors conducted their last-minute campaigns till yesterday midnight.
Voting will be held at 105 polling centres in 27 wards from 8:00am tomorrow. Mock voting through electronic voting machine (EVM) was held yesterday in 27 centres to familiarise voters with EVM.
The entire city has been brought under Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras for 48 hours from yesterday afternoon in order to thwart any untoward incident. Five candidates are contesting for the mayoral post. Besides, a total of 108 councilor candidates while 38 female councillor candidates for reserved seats, are also contesting in the city polls.
We think it would be the high-voltage battle of ballots amid tight security as all eyes will be on it. Voters are expected to cast their votes in the polls to elect a city mayor, ward councillors and women councillors from the reserved seats.
A tough contest is expected between Awami League mayoral candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat and independent candidates Monirul Haq Sakku. Therefore, this election would be an acid test for the commission and the government as well, as people and different political parties would observe the role of the commission, administration and law enforcers. The commission has completed all necessary preparations to hold the polls in a free, fair and credible manner.
The commission has completed all necessary
preparations to hold the polls in
a free, fair and credible manner
We have seen people living in Cumilla city corporation area have not yet witnessed any major incidence of violence since the candidates started their campaign after getting the symbols on 27 May. The outsiders who are not voters of the three city corporations have already left election areas.
However, various vested quarters in association with Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which did not field any candidate for mayoral post, is now engaged in making the CCC polls controversial in many ways. But the people of Cumilla city have not been confused by BNP’s propaganda as people living there believe that the party’s only work is to spark controversy on a particular issue which is nothing but to create a political confusion.
We believe the polls will be held without clashes and any kind of mismanagement in Cumilla. Apart from the commission, the government has also extended all-out cooperation to the commission in holding elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner and ensuring law and order situation in the city.
Local government elections strengthen the pillars of democracy at the grassroots, increase scopes of accountability. Therefore, we believe that the commission and the government would do everything possible to ensure CCC elections are held peacefully, fairly, freely and impartially. Also, we hope the commission will gain people’s trust and confidence through its works.