State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shah Alam has said elections for all five tiers of local government will be held within the current fiscal year.
He made the comments on 6 August during a visit to the Secondary Transfer Station of Sylhet City Corporation's waste-management system at Parairchak in Sylhet.
The five tiers he named are city corporations, municipalities, zila parishads, upazila parishads and union parishads.
He said the local government ministry, the finance ministry and the Election Commission will jointly decide which tier's election will be held first.
He added that a joint meeting of the finance ministry, the local government ministry and the Election Commission after August will take the final decision on the sequencing of the elections.
Mir Shah Alam said about 5,500 crore to 6,000 crore taka will be needed to complete the elections, that the Election Commission has already submitted a budget proposal, and that the current approved budget contains an allocation for the polls.
He also said former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has no opportunity to return to Bangladesh and that she would be subject to arrest under the law immediately upon arrival.
He further said rulings have already been delivered in cases against her, and that she would go to jail and the court verdict would be enforced.