Deadline for Gaibandha by-polls extended till 30 January 2023

The time limit for holding the Gaibandha-5 by-polls, which was halted amid mass irregularities on 12 October, has been extended till 30 January 2023.

The Gaibandha-5 seat fell vacant after the death of former lawmaker and deputy speaker Fazle Rabbi Mia on 23 July this year.

According to the Constitution, if a seat falls vacant then the position must be filled within 90 days through an election.

The 90-day-period ends on 20 October but it is not possible to hold an election within the next eight days, reads a notice published by the Election Commission on Wednesday.

According to a condition of the section 123 (4) of the Constitution, if it is not possible to hold the election due to any unavoidable crisis then it must be held within 90 days from the end of the first 90-day period.

Therefore, the deadline for holding the Gaibandha-5 polls has been extended till 30 January by the chief election commissioner.

In the first move of its kind seen in Bangladesh's democratic history, the EC suspended voting around four hours after it began at 8am on 12 October as the environment at polling centres "went out of control" amid allegations of vote rigging using the hotly debated EVMs.

According to Section 91 of the Representation of the People Order, if the commission finds that an election is not taking place fairly, it can stop election in some or the entire constituency, the CEC said as he clarified the reasons behind the suspension.

Gaibandha-5 consists of 10 unions of Saghata upazila and seven unions of Fulchhari upazila.