EC ready to accelerate poll preparations
Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh convened its eighth commission meeting today to discuss key legal reforms, including amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) 1972.
The meeting, presided over by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, commenced at 11am at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka.
All four Election Commissioners, senior secretary to the EC and other high-ranking officials were in attendance.
The commission took a scheduled recess at 1:30pm, with confirmation that discussions would resume later in the day.
Shariful Alam, Director of Public Relations at the EC, informed the media that further details would be disclosed following the meeting’s conclusion.
According to officials, the agenda includes amendments to several critical laws and ordinances, including: The Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, The Election Commission Secretariat (Amendment) Ordinance, The Election Officer (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Amendment) Ordinance, Affidavit requirements for candidates in nomination papers, Administrative and financial powers of EC Secretariat officials and various other legal matters.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters today, Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said, “The chief adviser has now instructed the officials to examine the legal aspects of whether the EC can be given back the authority to cancel elections in an entire constituency in case of irregularities.”
Speaking to the media, Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said, “It is more about what the government chooses to legislate than what we desire.
The Election Reform Committee has already recommended this, and if such a law is enacted, the EC would certainly be empowered to act accordingly.”
The call for reform follows the 2023 amendment to the RPO by the then Awami League government, which curtailed the EC’s powers to cancel or postpone elections-a move widely criticised by opposition parties.
The revision came in the wake of the EC’s unprecedented decision to cancel the Gaibandha-5 by-election due to significant electoral irregularities.
Under the current RPO, the EC can suspend results only at polling stations where irregularities are confirmed, but it can no longer annul results for an entire constituency.
The EC has formed five committees to speed up necessary preparations ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election, likely to be held early next year.
The five separate seven-member coordination committees, formed on Wednesday, are headed by different election commissioners.
The EC senior secretary and the additional secretary are members of all five committees.
Election Commissioner Tahmida Ahmad is leading a monitoring committee for the preparation of polling officer panels and training programs.
Committee’s members also include the EC’s NID Registration Wing director general, two joint secretaries and a deputy secretary.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud is leading a monitoring and coordination committee for electoral laws, rules, policies and the activities of the electoral inquiry bodies. Other members include two joint secretaries and two deputy secretaries.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah is the chairman of a coordination committee over Out of Country Voting (OCV) and Local and Foreign Observers.
Committee members also include a joint secretary, a deputy secretary, the public relations director and the ICT system manager.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker is the head of a committee for coordination with the field administration over the electoral activities. EC’s NID Registration Wing Director General, two joint secretaries and a deputy secretary are also on the committee.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah is also leading another committee for field-level law and order coordination and monitoring during the election.
The project director of the EC’s IDEA Project (Phase-II), two joint secretaries and a deputy secretary are also made members of the committee.
On Wednesday, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus directed the agencies concerned to complete all necessary preparations by December to ensure a peaceful national election.
The directive came in a meeting at the State Guest House Jamuna in the capital. Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, chiefs and high officials of different law enforcement agencies and other concerned departments were present in the meeting.
At the meeting, there were discussions over the deployment of law enforcement members for seven days to maintain law and order during the election period – before, during and after the polls.
A total of some 800,000 Ansars and law enforcement members will be engaged in the next general election.
The chief adviser also instructed to take preparation for bringing some 16,000 vulnerable polling stations out of a possible 47,000 voting stations throughout the country under CCTV monitoring network as well as for the installation of cameras on the bodies of police members in the polling stations in a bid to ensure peaceful balloting.