Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin said today the Election Commission aims to hold peaceful and fair local government elections, although the date for the polls has not yet been finalised.

“Two national leaders expressed their concerns. But without cooperation from political parties, it is not possible to conduct any election,” he said while speaking at the Election Training Institute in Dhaka's Agargaon during a programme organised by Reporters Forum for Election and Democracy.

“Sit together if necessary and reach a decision. We want to see a bloodless local government election. In the past, many murders have occurred,” he said.

The CEC also said party symbols would not be used in the upcoming local government elections, adding that the commission was already concerned after seeing reports of parties announcing candidates. He also said the code of conduct for local government elections was being revised.

“Since party symbols will not be used, the rules must be revised. We are working on this. Once completed, we will discuss with the government,” he said, adding, “If candidates had contested as independents, there would have been no party ownership and no factional clashes.”

Nasir Uddin said the commission wanted to establish a culture of credible elections in the country.

“For this, we need cooperation and coordination from everyone, including law enforcement agencies,” he said.

He added that the government would also need time for preparation as local government elections are held in phases.