Govt committed to hold parliamentary polls by June: Law Adviser
Staff Reporter :
Law adviser Asif Nazrul said on Wednesday said that the interim government is committed to holding the next national election as early as possible within the mentioned time frame between December 2025 and June 2026.
“If anyone else makes irrelevant or personal remarks, people should not be misled by them,” he told reporters after a meeting with a BNP delegation.
On the other hand, Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker said the EC is preparing to hold elections next December and will hold dialogue with stakeholders including political parties before October.
He made the remarks while speaking with journalists at his office in the city’s NirbachanBhaban.
Asif Nazrul said our chief adviser, Prof Muhammad Yunus, has been consistently saying ‘December to June’ from the beginning. Today, we clarified a few points during the discussion, which I want to share. One of them is that ‘December to June’ doesn’t mean we will wait until May or June to hold the election. It means we are aiming to hold it as early as possible within that period.
“There is no scope to go beyond June 2026,” he added.
The law adviser also said they had explained the government’s position to the BNP.
Terming BNP a “pro-reform political party”, Asif Nazrul said, “It seems the BNP is very sincere about reforms.”
He further said they have no intention of staying in office beyond the stated time frame.
“We are not staying in power for an extra month or two intentionally, or to enjoy authority,” he added.
EC Commissioner said the EC will exchange views with political parties in August-September or possibly before.
The time of the thirteenth general elections is yet to be fixed. The interim government maintains the elections will be held between December this year and June next year.
The EC says it is preparing to hold the election in ‘earliest time’, which is December, of this timeframe.
Anwarul Islam said the EC has been working with its own action plan since assuming the office.
He said the EC hopes that the work of delimiting the constituencies can be completed within three months if the government decides to amend The Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance, 1976.
Anwarul Islam said that the preparatory work will be completed in the next three months. The EC hopes that the action plan, which is published by the EC before the elections, will be printed around June-July.
In response to a question about whether preparations for the elections are being made, eyeing the polls in December, the election commissioner said that they are moving around the deadline announced by the government.
Responding to another question, the election commissioner said that before announcing the election schedule, there will be an exchange of views with the stakeholders. They want to exchange views with all the new parties that will get registration and the old parties. If the registration work is not completed, the new political parties will have a grudge. Considering that, the EC has issued a public notice for the registration of political parties at the right time.
The election commissioner said that the EC will hold consultations with stakeholders including political parties before announcing the election schedule. It will be before October, it could be in August-September or if possible, they will hold consultations with stakeholders before that.
Replying to another question, Anwarul Islam said the deadline for submitting application for registration is 20 April. Three parties have so far applied. No decision has yet been taken on extension of the deadline.
Asked if elections could be held given the current law and order situation, Anwarul Islam said he thinks the situation is improving gradually.
The EC thinks the law and order situation will improve further in the next six to eight months, he added.