Final decision on local elections on Thursday: Home Minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the possible schedule for local government elections announced by the Election Commission (EC) is not final. He said a final decision on the matter will be taken on the basis of the opinion of the inter-ministerial meeting with the participation of secretaries next Thursday (September 17).

The home minister said this at a news briefing after a coordination meeting in the conference room of the Home Ministry at the Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting titled ‘Coordination meeting of relevant agencies and stakeholders to resolve traffic congestion and keep traffic management normal arising from construction work of ongoing and scheduled mega projects in Dhaka metropolis’ was held there on the day.

Replying to a question from journalists on the local government elections, Salahuddin Ahmed said the Election Commission works according to its constitutional and legal jurisdiction. However, coordination with the relevant government agencies and ministries is needed in organising local government elections.

He said there is no scope to view the possible schedule published by the Election Commission as a final decision. He called on those concerned to wait until the meeting on September 17.

On the initiative for coordination to resolve traffic congestion in Dhaka metropolis, the home minister said the main objective of the government is to give relief to city dwellers, reduce suffering and prevent wastage of time and money in the public interest.

He said the tendency of digging roads becomes acute especially in the rainy season. Clear directives have been given to complete utility shifting and other construction works at the same time through inter-agency coordination.

The minister further said focal points have been designated to supervise the works of mega projects of ongoing MRT, Bridge Authority, Roads Division, City Corporation, WASA, DESA and other agencies.

This coordination meeting will be held every 15 days to review the overall progress of the works. Continuous communication will be maintained among the relevant agencies through sub-committees at the officer level as needed.