Voice 9, Dhaka Bureau
The 12th National Parliament election campaign
in Bangladesh will come to a close today, Friday. Starting at 8 o'clock in the
morning, candidates will no longer be permitted to hold public meetings, road
meetings, marches, or processions. However, they can continue with election
preparatory activities. Consequently, candidates and their supporters have been
experiencing a hectic period recently.
According to Shariful Alam, the Director of
Public Relations at the Election Commission Secretariat, Section 78 of the
Representation of the People Order, 1972 (RPO) specifies the campaign period
for the election. It states that 48 hours after the start and end of polling,
candidates are prohibited from calling public meetings in their electoral areas
or participating in someone else's public meetings.
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Additionally, organizing or participating in
processions or similar events is not allowed. Alam also mentioned that polling
will take place on January 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Therefore, all campaign
promotions will cease at 8 a.m. on Friday, following the previous 48-hour rule.
Following the conclusion of the campaign period,
voting and decision-making processes are no longer permitted. On Thursday, the
candidates and their supporters were engaged in a hectic day as they visited
voters' homes to seek their support. However, due to the unfortunate demise of
a candidate, the Election Commission has decided to cancel the polling in the
Naogaon-2 constituency. Consequently, the remaining 299 seats across the
country will proceed with the voting process.
As per the Election Commission's information,
there are a total of 1,070 candidates competing in the 299 constituencies.
These candidates are actively campaigning, utilizing their respective party
symbols. Among them, 1,534 candidates are representing 28 political parties,
while 436 individuals are running as independent candidates. In light of the
upcoming polling day, a government holiday has already been declared.
