The Election Commission (EC) is planning to hold Union Parishad (UP) elections on an upazila-based basis. Under the proposed arrangement, all Union Parishads within a particular upazila will go to the polls on the same day, said EC Secretary Akhter Ahmed.

He made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the Election Commission building in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Monday (September 7).

Akhter Ahmed said, “The UP elections will be held in several phases. It has not yet been decided whether there will be five or six phases. However, I can say that the elections will be organised on an upazila basis. In that case, all the unions within an upazila will hold elections simultaneously.”

He said holding elections in some unions of an upazila in one phase and the remaining unions in another could create complications.

“So, all the unions within an upazila will go to the polls at the same time, while the overall election will be held in several phases,” he said, adding that the Election Commission will take the final decision on the matter.

The EC secretary also said the commission would decide when to announce the election schedule for the UP polls.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A M M Nasir Uddin has already said that the commission plans to announce the UP election schedule in September and begin the local government election process with the UP polls in November.

The commission plans to hold elections for city corporations, upazila parishads, municipalities and district councils in subsequent phases.