The schedule for the presidential election has not yet been finalised, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said on Monday.
“The election schedule has not yet been fixed. We have requested the Parliament Secretariat to send us the voter list, but we have not received it yet. Discussions on the presidential election schedule will begin after we receive the voter list,” he said.
Akhtar made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the Election Building in Agargaon.
Referring to the local government elections, he said, “As we have not yet received clear instructions regarding the local government elections, the deadline for voter registration until 31 July may be changed, or it may remain unchanged.”
On proposed legal amendments, Akhtar said several recommendations had been prepared to amend the local government election laws. These include clarifying the definition of law enforcement agencies and addressing issues relating to dual citizenship and loan defaulters.
“These recommendations will be sent to the Local Government Division. The ownership of the law rests with the Local Government Division. Two of our election commissioners are currently abroad, and we will send the proposals after they return,” he said.
Asked whether local government elections could be held from October, the EC secretary said there is usually a gap of 45 days between the announcement of the election schedule and polling day.
“In addition, it takes around one and a half months to finalise and print the voter list. Altogether, an election requires around three months of backward calculation or preparation. We have heard different possible timeframes, including September, October and December. As there is no clear information, it is better that I do not comment further on the matter,” he said.
Asked about communication with the government regarding the local government elections, Akhtar said: “To my knowledge, there has been no such communication. However, there has been no slowdown in our preparations.”
“Our preparations have three components. The first relates to rules and legal matters, the second concerns equipment, and the third is training. We have prepared the code of conduct. We have the necessary equipment and polling centres. The next step is training polling officials. We will develop master trainers under the Training of Trainers (ToT) model. Our preparations are continuing,” he added.
On the possibility of further dialogue with political parties ahead of the local government elections, Akhtar said the parties had already been consulted on various rules and regulations.
“There is no decision at present on holding any additional dialogue,” he said.
Under the law, registered political parties are required to submit their audited income and expenditure statements for the previous calendar year by 31 July.
Regarding compliance, the EC secretary said: “As that day fell on a Friday, the deadline was extended until 2 August. Of the 59 registered political parties, one has been suspended (the Awami League). Of the remaining 58 parties, 38, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, have submitted their income and expenditure statements. Thirteen parties have sought more time, while eight have not responded. Those that failed to respond will be served notices in accordance with the law.”
