JS polls date likely within a week
The Election Commission (EC) might announce within a week a specific date for the parliamentary poll, and detailed schedules for upazila parishad and Dhaka City Corporation elections, dispelling doubts about the long overdue national ballot.
If everything goes according to the commission's plan, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda will unveil the final leg of the roadmap for the much awaited ballots with a major breakthrough in the prevailing political stagnation in the country.
At a meeting in the office of the chief adviser (CA) on Sunday, the council of advisers to the caretaker government and the EC finalised the plan in the wake of growing demands of political parties for a specific date for the parliamentary election, sources in the commission said.
The EC asked the government to ensure a congenial atmosphere for electoral preparations by relaxing further the emergency powers rules (EPR), allowing the parties to hold their national councils for meeting the criteria for mandatory registration with the commission, the sources added.
The current relaxed state of EPR declared on May 12 this year only allows countrywide indoor politics on a limited scale, and still bars gathering of over 200 people.
But the parties' national councils will require attendance by thousands of people.
"We will disclose everything after the talks with political parties are over," CEC Huda told waiting journalists yesterday on the EC Secretariat premises, replying to a query about the commission's discussion with the caretaker government.
The talks between the EC and political parties will be completed today and the commission will review the proposals of the parties for a couple of days.
A highly placed source in the EC said the commission believes, once the specific date for the ninth parliamentary election is announced, it will clear all doubts about the poll, the tentative scheduled for which was set for the third week of December by the CA during his address to the nation on May 12 this year.
"The commission will first announce only the specific date for the parliamentary poll, a detailed schedule for it will be announced later," one of the EC sources said adding that the announcement might come by the end of this week or early next week.
The source also said during EC's meeting with the council of advisers, Dec 18 came into the discussion as a possible date for the national ballot.
After the EC announces a specific date for the parliamentary poll, the detailed schedule for it will be announced 45 days before the polling date. In that case, the detailed schedule might be announced in early November.
The caretaker government asked the EC to hold elections to as many upazilas as possible before the parliamentary election, but failed to make the commission agree to its demand.
The EC wants to hold the polls to about 100 upazila parishads by the end of October, the sources said.
If polls to around 100 out of 482 upazila parishads are held in October, the elections to the remaining upazilas will be held immediately after the parliamentary poll.
The EC had earlier planned to hold polls to over 200 upazila parishads starting from October 23 before the parliamentary election, but it changed its plan in the face of strong opposition from political parties, and due to the deteriorating flood situation in the country, the sources added.
According to the latest plan, the long over due polls to Dhaka City Corporation will also be held by the end of October.
Participating in talks with the EC since Saturday, almost all parliamentary political parties asked the commission to announce a specific date for the long stalled ninth parliamentary poll.
The parties also opposed holding of upazila polls before the parliamentary election, arguing that holding of upazila polls in October will hamper holding of the all important national election.
The EC however again assured them of holding the parliamentary poll in the third week of December.
About registration of parliamentary political parties with the EC, which was made mandatory for them for contesting in parliamentary polls, most of the dialoguing parties demanded withdrawal of the state of emergency, so they may hold their national councils for meeting the criteria for registration.
Some political parties however proposed that the EC announces the detailed schedules for upazila and parliamentary polls together, with the parliamentary poll scheduled to be held first.
Against such a backdrop, CEC Huda and two other election commissioners --- Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain --- met the council of advisers to the military backed caretaker government on Sunday with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair.
The EC sources said the commission might dig in its heels on the issue of political parties' mandatory registration, but might allow the parties to be registered with it by bringing provisional amendments to their constitutions, due to the 'constraint of time' they are talking about.
If the parties agree, they will have to get the amendments ratified later by their national councils, a source close to the EC said.
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