EC plans to hold 11th parliamentary election in last week of December

source :
https://m.bdnews24.com/
The Election Commission plans to hold the 11th parliamentary election in December and the last week is an appropriate time, said EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed.

“But no specific timeframe has yet been fixed.”

The decision on whether the EVMs will be used in the next general election will be taken at a meeting on Aug 30, Ahmed said.

According to the existing constitution, the election to the 11th parliament must be held within 90 days of the expiry of the 10th parliament. Accordingly, the next general election will be held between Oct 30 and Jan 28.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had earlier also hinted that the national election would be held in December.

The last general election was held on Jan 5 (2014). The academic year begins on Jan 1. Usually schools, colleges and educational institutions remain closed at the end of December.

Taking all these into account, Ahmed said, the EC will decide on the election date.

He said the EC also plans to use EVMs in the national election. “For this, the commission is working to legalise its use. But first it needs to be included in the RPO [Representation of the People Order].”

About a project on purchasing 150,000 EVMs, Ahmed said, “We've just proposed the project, but did not discuss it yet. It’s too early to comment on this."

To make people aware of the EVM, the EC has also decided to organise an EVM exhibition at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in September. Outside Dhaka, the exhibition will also be arranged in the 10 regional EC offices.