The Election Commission (EC) has approved the action plan for the 13th National Parliamentary Election, with an official announcement expected on Thursday.
As per the plan, dialogues with stakeholders are likely to begin in the second half of September, while voting will be held in the first half of February. The election schedule will be announced in early December.
On Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, four election commissioners — Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Tahmida Ahmed, Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar, and Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah — along with EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, held a meeting at the EC headquarters in Agargaon.
Emerging from the CEC’s office around 1:00 pm, Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarkar said, “Everything in the action plan has been finalised. It has been approved; only the typing is in progress.”
Meanwhile, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed hinted that the action plan (roadmap) would be announced on Thursday.
At a media briefing at the EC’s Media Centre, he told journalists, “We are working on some issues at the moment. Hopefully, we will be able to share some additional information with you on Thursday.”
When asked directly if it would be the roadmap for the national polls, the secretary responded, “I have already answered that. I said we will be able to share more details with you.”
Responding to another query, he added, “The roadmap we have prepared will be shared with you. It is currently on my desk as I was away from Dhaka.”
Earlier, four election commissioners and senior EC officials sat in a meeting regarding the action plan. On that occasion, Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah had said that a detailed action plan and implementation schedule would be shared.
According to EC officials, the roadmap outlines preparations on party registration, constituency demarcation, election observers, reforms to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), issuance of rules and regulations, IT-supported registration and postal ballot facilities for expatriates, and procurement of election materials.
On 5 August, Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus announced in a national address that the 13th parliamentary elections would be held before Ramadan in February next year. The following day, his office formally directed the EC to prepare for the polls.
The CEC has also said the election schedule will be declared about two months prior to voting. After discussions at the EC meeting, it was confirmed that the schedule will be announced in early December.
Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar said they intend to complete the “core preparations” by October, including constituency demarcation, party registration, observer registration, RPO reforms, issuance of the code of conduct, and the finalisation of the voter list.
The roadmap will also highlight key tasks and implementation schedules, such as dialogues, consultations, meetings, briefings, training, printing, budget allocations, IT-based preparations, publicity, coordination cells, and inter-ministerial meetings.