The Election Commission will start its dialogue with registered political parties from 13 November. EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed provided this information to journalists at the Election Commission building on Tuesday.
He said, “The dialogue with political parties will begin on 13 November. We are planning for this. We need to decide who will come, who will be called first. I want to complete the consultation process with the parties within this month so that specific targets can be met.”
The 13th Parliamentary Election will be held in the first half of February. The EC will announce the schedule in the first half of December. It has already completed its preparatory work for the polls. It has already held dialogues with various stakeholders including election experts, educationists, women leaders, and the media.
In its final phase, the election organising body is sitting for dialogue with political parties. The secretary stated that this dialogue with the parties is regarding issues for a fair election, including the Representation of the People Order (RPO) and the code of conduct.
Currently, there are 53 registered parties; additionally, the registration of the Awami League is suspended and the registration of three parties has been cancelled. The registration of three new parties is scheduled to be finalised on 12 November.
When asked if the Jatiya Party would be invited to the dialogue, EC Secretary Akhter Ahmed avoided the topic and said, “We haven’t yet decided whom to call. We will discuss and decide on this matter. You will find out step by step who will be invited.”
When asked if a decision or resolution had been made regarding the two factions claiming the Jatiya Party’s “Plough” symbol, the secretary told journalists, “No decision has been made yet. You would have known if a decision was made; it will be announced when it happens.”
Meanwhile, EC Secretary Akhter Ahmed informed that the Election Commission has not yet received a copy of the court order regarding the reinstatement of the Bagerhat constituency. He said, “We have not yet received the certified copy. Once the copy of the verdict is in hand, the EC will review it and decide the next course of action, whether an appeal will be filed or not.”
Regarding the constituency boundary delimitation, more than 30 petitions from aggrieved parties have reached the court. When asked if delays in resolving these would impact the election schedule, the EC Secretary said, “It could have an impact.”
He informed that it depends on what observations are in the court order and how the Commission reviews it. He said, “The Commission cannot make a decision on this matter until the certified copy is received. Because a decision will only be made after understanding the basis of the observations. So, the answer to your question could be both yes and no.”
The secretary stated that after the claims and objections process, there is no scope for questioning the final revised boundaries of the parliamentary constituencies in court.
“Still, it would not be right to comment without seeing the observations in the verdict,” he said.
