Dhaka: Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed today expressed hope that the action plan (roadmap) for the 13th parliamentary elections will be announced tomorrow. The EC senior secretary made the remark during a press briefing at the media centre of the Election Commission building in Agargaon, Dhaka.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed stated, “We are finalizing a few more tasks. Hopefully, I will be able to share more information with you tomorrow.” When questioned about whether it was the roadmap for the national elections, the EC Secretary mentioned that he had already addressed the question and would provide more details the following day. He added that, InshaAllah, he would offer better information tomorrow and urged the journalists to be patient until then.
The EC Secretary further commented, “I will have a chance to say many more things by tomorrow. I will do it as soon as possible. There are many matters related to this.” Earlier, the Election Commission (EC) had approved the action plan (roadmap) for the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A M M Nasir Uddin, together with the four election commissioners and the EC secretary, conducted a meeting in the afternoon at the Election Commission Building to deliberate on the issue. On August 18, EC Senior Secretary had declared, “We had mentioned that we would finalize the election roadmap this week. The plan includes inter-departmental coordination and other relevant matters. The draft of the action plan has been prepared. It has now been submitted to the Commission for approval.”
It is notable that as part of the preparations for the national elections, the EC has already underscored issues such as party registration, boundary demarcation, election observers, reform of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), issuance of rules and regulations, IT-supported registration and postal ballot system for expatriates, and procurement of election equipment in the roadmap.