"The authorities [government] have informed us about the time frame for holding the parliamentary polls. We will be happy if the election takes place earlier than that," said Stefan Frowein, head of the delegation, referring to the plan to hold the election within 2008.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the Election Commission (EC), he said, "We'd encourage efforts to hold the election as soon as possible."

A three-member team discussed mainly the electoral issues with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda and election commissioners Sahul Hossain and Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain.

Replying to a query, Frowein said they support the move to prepare a voter roll with photographs.

"The European Commission is looking into the possibility of financing the voter-listing project," he added.

The recommendations by an EU team that visited the country before the now cancelled January 22 election also came up for discussion.

The EU ambassador in Dhaka observed that some problems have already been solved while the commission has initiated steps to work out the others.

The CEC briefed the delegation about the measures aimed at electoral reforms and the commission's determination to ensure a free and fair election.

Meanwhile, sources said the EC Secretariat will soon direct the district election officers to update the list of assistant registration officers (ARO) across the country.

Currently, 6,273 AROs, mostly government officials of different cadres at district and upazila levels, are appointed for voter-listing.

"The district election officers might be asked to send the updated list of AROs within May 30," said a source at the Secretariat.

The EC will meet today to discuss preparation of the voter list. The field level work is scheduled to begin in August.