The Election Commission will announce the schedule of the 12th parliamentary election in the second week of November.
The commission will hold the next general polls in the last week of December or first week of January.
“As people of the country want elections, we will announce the polls schedule of the next general election in the second week of November and hold the election in the end of December or first week of January,” seeking anonymity, an election commissioner told reporters at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital on Monday.
The election commissioner also said the voting atmosphere in the country is good and people want polls. “I don’t see any problem holding the general polls.”
The EC will hold an important meeting on November 1 with the aim of announcing the schedule in November, a senior EC official said.
Representatives of various ministries including foreign affairs, information, education and defense will participate in it. The final date of the election will be discussed in the meeting. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal will preside over the meeting at 11:00 am, he added.
The EC will hold a high-level meeting on October 30 to decide about the deployment of law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order in the 12th parliamentary elections. The commission will sit with the officials of law enforcement and intelligence agencies on that day.
The Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry, Inspector General of Police, Director General of RAB, BGB, Ansar & VDP, Coast Guard, NSI, DGFI and additional inspector general of Police have been invited to the meeting, EC sources said.
The EC is making preparations for smoothly holding the next general election, which is due by January 2024.
Meanwhile, EC officials said the EC has already completed the major tasks including updating voter lists and re-fixing of parliamentary delimitation ahead of the next general polls, amendments of the Representative of People Order (RPO) and the election related laws have been finalised.
Setting up the polling centres is also in the final stages. A draft list of 42,380 polling centres has been drafted. The final list of the polling centres will be published as a gazette when the polls election schedule is announced.
The commission has also given registration to two new political parties ahead of the election. Sixty six local organisations have been registered as election observers.
EC officials also said that training has begun for election-related officials. Presently trainers are being trained. Training of deputy commissioners, upazila returning officers and police officials has also been started.
The officials said the commission is sending electoral materials including ballot boxes to the 10 regional election offices.
They also said the election materials would be sent to the district and upazila election offices from regional offices in phases.
Meanwhile, the Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined to hold a free, fair and credible election in Bangladesh. The government has given the country’s democracy a strong footing.
On the other hand, BNP should stop their so-called one-point demand of toppling the government.
The EC has done everything required to hold a fair election that includes introducing a voter list with photographs and transparent ballot boxes as none can manipulate the polls, they added.
