The Election Commission (EC) will publish the final list of polling stations for the upcoming national election on Monday, said EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Sunday.
"The list of polling stations has been finalised. Some amendments were proposed (to the draft list). I will brief you tomorrow (Monday) morning," he said, replying to a question why the EC could not publish the final list within October 20 last in line with the timeframe announced in the electoral roadmap.
The EC Secretary was briefing reporters after a meeting between a Commonwealth pre-election assessment mission and the Election Commission in the afternoon at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
In reply to another question regarding the registration of new political parties, the EC Secretary said the registration process of new political parties would be completed this week.
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“We’ve received some additional information from the field level regarding the progress of the party registration process. The review (of additional information) is underway. We’ll award it (the registration) within this week as we also have a responsibility and urgency from our end,” he said.
When asked if any decision was taken over symbol allocation for National Citizen Party-NCP, Akhtar Ahmed said they will inform the symbol issue later.
Responding to a question about the progress of the EC’s electoral roadmap, he said it is not possible to implement everything 100 percent.
Depending on the situation, some adjustments are needed, some tasks are already completed and it needs to wait for implementation of some others, he added.
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“So far, I don’t think there’s any reason or situation to be alarmed or worried (regarding implementation of the roadmap),” said the EC secretary.
Asked whether the EC would file a case over the cocktail explosion on EC Secretariat premise, near the southern side of Nirbachan Bhaban on Saturday night, he said police already detained a person.
He, however, said it exploded outside (Nirbachan Bhaban). “If necessary, the EC will file a case.”
A five-member Commonwealth delegation, led by its electoral support section’s (ESS) head Linford Andrews sat with the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin and four election commissioners at Nirbachan Bhaban.
About the meeting, the EC Secretary said the delegation inquired of the Commission’s preparations for the upcoming election. “They also discussed expatriate voter registration, the misuse of technology, and security during the election period,” he added.
Talking to reporters, Linford Andrews said they are here in Bangladesh with a number of objectives in mind, including ascertaining whether there will be broad support among all stakeholders in Bangladesh for the presence of a common observer mission during the next election.
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“We are here with a number of objectives in mind. The first objective is for us to ascertain whether there will be broad support among all stakeholders in Bangladesh for the presence of a common observer mission. We are also here to assess the prevailing environment as well as the preparations for the election,” he said.
“Our presence here is testimony to that interest and our enthusiasm to support the people of Bangladesh through this very crucial upcoming election,” said Linford Andrews.