The much awaited 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election will be held on January 7 in 2024.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Wednesday announced the date of voting while announcing the JS polls schedule in an address to the nation on state-run television and radio. His 15-minute speech was broadcast simultaneously on Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar.
Mentioning that the existing environment in congenial to holding free, fair and participatory polls, the Chief Election Commissioner invited all parties to participate in the polls during a live telecast from the Nirbachan Bhaban.
He also announced that political parties will be able to submit nominations for candidacies till November 30.
The Election Commission will scrutinise the nomination from December 1 to December 4.
Appeals against the nominations can be submitted from December 6 to December 15 and nominations need to be withdrawn by December 17.
The CEC also said political parties will be able to distribute symbols within December 18 and the election campaign will officially kick off on December 18. The campaign duration will end on 8:00am on January 5.
To conduct the election in 300 constituencies, the EC has appointed a total of 66 returning officers and 592 assistant returning officers.
CEC Kazi Habibul Awal made the declaration amid a blanket security over the country as BNP and Jamaat have been trying to thwart the JS polls anyhow.
He said, "The EC has held discussions with various stakeholders on numerous occasions. Heard them out, heard their suggestions, explained our position. We have also called different political parties for dialogue.”
"EC, with the government's help, wants peaceful, participatory and free polls. All political parties must abide by the code of conduct, maintain law and order," he said.
Earlier this November, the CEC made it clear that it did not have a mandate to resolve the crisis between political parties given the limited time in hand ahead of the 12th parliamentary election.
Under the Constitution, the national election must be held within 90 days before the five-year term of the current parliament expires.
It should be mentioned that the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have been carrying on movement demanding the election under a caretaker government which is unconstitutional and rejected by the Supreme Court too.
In view of the objections, major areas and cities of the country were covered under security through the deployment of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).
Sources said, the EC is likely to issue directives asking all aspirants to remove their posters, placards, banners and billboards from public places. The commission may give a timeframe to complete the task.
No one can start electioneering until the last date for withdrawal of candidacy.
Ministers and lawmakers cannot use government vehicles or enjoy facilities for carrying out election-related work. They are also not allowed to make any donations to any institution from public funds.
Besides, the government cannot approve or inaugurate any development project at this time.
Noting that there is necessity to make the electoral process easy and transparent, he said, apart from updating the laws and regulations, the EC has recently introduced two apps to facilitate the candidates to submit nomination papers online to ensure overall transparency and simplification of the electoral process.
The CEC mentioned that the number of total voters are around 11.97 crore and the voting will be held in 2.62 lakh booths in about 42,000 centres.
Before the announcement of the polls schedule, the EC completed all of its preparations for holding the election.
Meanwhile, high-ups of all the law-enforcement and intelligence agencies confirmed the EC that there is no hurdle to hold the JS polls on time.
