Roadmap for Bangladesh's Upcoming National Elections in Next Week: EC Secretary

The roadmap for the upcoming national election of Bangladesh will be announced next week, Election Commission Secretary Md Akhtar Ahmed said on Thursday. “We hope to unveil the election roadmap by next week,” he told reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.

Akhtar Ahmed said: “We have received 318 applications from observers, which are under review. And regarding the 22 political parties that have been registered, we will initially send them to the field for our information.”

Regarding expatriate voting, he said: “There has been some discussion today about out-of-country voting (expatriate voting). What will be the method, what will be the process, and in which areas and within how many days it has to be covered-these matters were discussed today. Some further discussion is still pending. After the discussions, we will brief regularly.”

The roadmap is expected to outline several key components, including schedules for dialogues with civil society members and journalists, timelines for amendments and reforms to existing electoral laws, the secretary added.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Saturday said that the next national election is likely to be held in the first half of February and the Election Commission (EC) intensified its preparations across the country.