B’desh’s electoral body unveils roadmap for general election

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s top electoral body on Thursday unveiled a roadmap for the general election to be held in February next year, saying the poll schedule would be announced at least 60 days before the voting date.

“The Chief Adviser’s Office has asked us to hold the election before Ramadan. If I am not mistaken, Ramadan will begin on February 17 or 18. From this, you can calculate the probable election date,” Election Commission’s Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said at a press briefing here.

He said under the roadmap, discussions with political parties and other stakeholders would be held by the end of September and “it may take one to one and a half months” to complete the process.

Ahmed said the Election Commission set the election target for the first half of February and the roadmap was prepared in line with the directives issued by the interim government’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus. It received the commission’s approval on Wednesday, he added.

The EC announced the roadmap prioritising 24 key tasks relating to the amendment of the relevant laws like the Representation of the People Order (RPO), Delimitation of Constituencies Act, the Voter List Act, the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act 1991 and the Election Commission Secretariat Act 2009.

Ahmed said that the other issues to be settled included finalisation of the voter list in phases, policy for domestic and foreign observers and journalists, and registration of new political parties.

The roadmap expected that the EC could announce the election schedule in the second or third week of December.

In a televised address to the nation on August 5, Yunus announced that the 13th parliamentary election would be held before Ramadan, in February next year.

The roadmap was announced while the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), which merged this year, apparently with Yunus’s blessings, expressed their reservations against planned polls under the existing system and scenario. Shortly after the EC’s announcement, the NCP said the roadmap suggested the interim government’s “breach of promise”. Agencies