Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal today (July 31, 2022) said the Election Commission wants to remain above criticism by holding a free, fair, and credible election as the last two national polls were tainted by controversies.

The Election Commission is all set to hold a dialogue with the ruling Awami League and main opposition in the parliament Jatiya Party today.

Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan has demanded abolition of reserved women’s seats in the parliament, in the upcoming national election.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal yesterday said they were in crisis over holding the next general election with two major political parties divided over taking part in it.

The Election Commission is going to start sitting with political parties on July 17 as part of a series of dialogues with a cross-section of people, seeking recommendations on how to hold free and fair elections.

Defeated mayoral candidate of the recently-held Cumilla City Corporation election Monirul Haque Sakku has appealed to Election Commission to cancel four polling centers’ results and reelection at those centres.

Australian High Commis-sioner to Bangladesh Jeremy Bruer yesterday said Australia hopes that Bangladesh’s next general election will go well and be transparent.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal yesterday apparently changed his tune about the step the Election Commission took against ruling Awami League lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar ahead of the Cumilla City Corporation polls.

Gopalganj is considered an Awami League bastion as it is the ancestral home of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

BNP’s participation in the elections will solve many problems related to the holding of national polls in Bangladesh, the parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry informed the United States during its recent visit there.

Regarding the results of the Cumilla City Corporation election, local Awami League MP Bahauddin Bahar said, "We have won the election. It doesn't matter who disagrees with the result. Many councilors will not accept the result.”

It was at the Shilpakala Academy auditorium, Cumilla, around 8:20pm.

Voting in yesterday’s Cumilla City Corporation polls took place largely without hassles, but there were some complaints about technical issues with electronic voting machines and long waiting times.

People faced delays in casting votes via EVMs in union parishad elections in Chattogram’s Banshkhali yesterday as fingerprints of many did not match with the ones in the voters’ database and some failed to use the machines properly.

Boycotting the result of the poll, independent mayoral candidate of Cumilla City Corporation elections Monirul Haque Sakku claimed that a phone call has changed the election result.

Arfanul Haque Rifat, the newly elected mayor of Cumilla City Corporation, has stated that he will publish a white paper on all corruption committed in the city during the last ten years.

Awami League backed candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat has won the mayoral race as results from the vote count in the Cumilla City Corporation election was revealed just moments back.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal today said the Cumilla City Corporation election was peaceful and estimated that about 60 percent votes were cast.

Arfanul Haque, the Awami League-backed mayoral candidate in the Cumilla City Corporation elections, is leading in 22 centres as the vote-counting began at 4:00 pm today (June 15, 2022)

Around 52 percent votes were cast in Cumilla City Corporation election, Returning Officer Shahedunnabi Chowdhury said this afternoon.