Dhaka, May 19 -- The government has announced plans to initiate local government elections across five phases, starting from September or October this year.

State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam outlined the roadmap during a press briefing at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

"The government is working towards completing all five major local government elections within the next one year," he said.

Asked which election would come first, he said the sequence would be determined by budget availability.

"Elections requiring larger budgets will be completed in later phases."

He said he expected polls to begin after the monsoon season. "Elections in Bangladesh are festive occasions. Local government elections are even more so."

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