The Election Commission (EC) is holding a key inter-ministerial meeting today to discuss an extensive list of preparatory tasks ahead of Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election, slated for the first half of February next year.
The 22-point agenda cover a broad range of issues, including coordination of academic examination schedules, fire safety management, security of minority communities, prevention of artificial intelligence (AI) misuse, arrangements for postal voting, and the transportation of election materials.
The pre-preparatory meeting to be held at the EC Secretariat at 3pm — the first of its kind ahead of the polls — will be chaired by the chief election commissioner and attended by all four election commissioners. The commission, led by AMM Nasir Uddin, will present the detailed agenda to the heads of all ministries and departments involved in the electoral process.
Comprehensive agenda
The meeting will discuss repairs to roads leading to polling centres, improvement of physical infrastructure, formation of panels for polling officials, and allocation of election duties. It will also consider the transport of election materials and polling staff to remote and hilly regions, with helicopter support to be provided to the Election Commission during the election period.
Other topics include initiatives by media outlets to promote voter awareness and engagement, assistance in appointing election observers, and the preparation of an action plan for collecting and compiling information on loan defaulters.
The agenda also includes allocation of budgets for election-related expenditure, arrangements for manpower, vehicles, and logistical support, and measures by local administrations and local government institutions to maintain peace and order. The deployment of executive magistrates to enforce the election code of conduct, and coordination with the education ministry to review annual and public examination schedules, will also be discussed.
Further items include ensuring regular weather forecasts, uninterrupted electricity supply during polling, and the formation of medical teams to provide health services during the election. The Fire Service and Civil Defence will be tasked with taking immediate measures for fire and disaster management.
Other measures include the removal of existing campaign materials, restrictions on vehicular and water transport during the election period, management of postal voting, facilitation of postal ballots, and arrangements for voting by prisoners and persons in legal custody.
The EC will also seek strategies to counter misinformation on social media using AI technology and to ensure communal harmony and security for minority and vulnerable groups.
31 ministries and agencies invited
The EC has written to 31 ministries and departments requesting their participation in the meeting. In letters sent earlier, the commission said those invited include cabinet secretary, governor of Bangladesh Bank, senior secretaries of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Shipping, and Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment; foreign secretary; secretary of Coordination and Reform Division of Cabinet Division; finance secretary; and secretaries of Health Education and Family Welfare Division, Law and Justice Division, and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Other invitees include secretary of Local Government Division, secretaries of Financial Institutions Division, Power Division, and Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; agriculture secretary; secretaries of Secondary and Higher Education Division and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education; secretaries of Posts and Telecommunications Division, Information and Communication Technology Division, and Technical and Madrasah Education Division; secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division; and secretary of the National Parliament Secretariat.
Invitations have also been extended to director general of Department of Posts, director general of Department of Films and Publications, director generals of Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar, chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, chief engineer of Local Government Engineering Department, chief engineer of Education Engineering Department, and inspector general of prisons.
