Bangladesh
CEC CEC instructs to prepare for elections
Dhaka, March 31: Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal asked the Election Commission Secretariat to prepare early for organizing the 12th National Assembly elections.
He also directed the election officials to complete all the activities of the election as per the action plan. Mentioning the apprehension that the procurement of electoral material in international and national context may be prolonged in many cases, he instructed to be cautious.
Addressing the officials, he said, we will keep preparations so that we can hold elections on time according to the constitution. CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said that the election may be held at the end of December or early January. Even if the election is held one or two months before the specified time, the EC should have the preparation for the election. He gave these instructions to the officers in the monthly coordination meeting held at the election building on Thursday.
According to sources, the CEC wants to know from the field level officials what kind of obstacles and challenges there are in organizing fair and free elections in the meeting. At the same time, he also took advice on what to do in order to make the voting fair. In the meeting, some officials of the EC secretariat and field level expressed concern about the violation of the code of conduct. He suggested launching a hotline like 999 to report violations of code of conduct or election complaints. The meeting also discussed the example of India's polling.
It is reported that it was the regular monthly coordination meeting of Election Commission in March. It was presided over by EC Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam. This is the first time that the Chief Election Commissioner and four Election Commissioners participated in the closed door meeting out of their own interest. The meeting was attended by 10 regional officers of EC field level, EC Secretariat, National Identity Registration Division and senior officials of Electoral Training Institute.
Briefing about the decision at the end of the meeting, EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam said that the Election Commission has given instructions to the Secretariat regarding the preparation of the upcoming 12th parliamentary elections, so that the preparations do not lag behind their announced roadmap. They give directions as per the roadmap on all the top-to-bottom aspects of the election, from procurement of goods to setting up of polling stations. We have also been told that we are lagging behind.
