Gaibandha-5 by-polls on January 4

The Gaibandha-5 by-poll is scheduled to be held on January 4 next year, Election Commission has said.

The voting will be held in Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam said on Tuesday. 

The EC Secretary said that the date of the by-election of the Gaibandha-5 constituency has been fixed on January 4. Voting for this seat will be done by Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). All the centers will be covered by CCTV. Candidates can start campaigning today.

Earlier on Monday (December 5) at noon, EC Commissioner Rasheda Sultana said that the Gaibandha by-election will be held by January 15. “No one guilty of the previous election” shall be in charge of the new election. “If it is not possible from that area, if necessary, neighboring districts and upazilas, if that is not possible, the presiding officer will be brought from anywhere in the country,” she also said.

She added that the election culture should be changed for good elections.

The EC has announced that action will be taken against 133 people for alleged irregularities in the by-election.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said in a press conference held at the EC Bhaban on November 30 that the investigation has found evidence of negligence against 125 presiding officers and five SIs from five centers. For this, as per the law, the EC Secretary has been asked to send the list of names of those 125 officials to their respective controlling and appointing authorities.