President Abdul Hamid is set to hold a dialogue with registered political parties on December 20 next to discuss issues relating to the reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC).

"The president will hold talks with registered political parties before appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and commissioners," President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin told UNB on Tuesday.

The dialogue will formally begin on Monday (Dec 20) with the main opposition (Jatiya Party) in Parliament, he said.

The parties that have representation in Parliament will be invited first to join the talks.

Jatiya Party Secretary General and member of opposition Mujibul Haque Chunnu said they verbally came to know about the president's invitation of the talks – scheduled to be held at 4pm on December 20 at the Bangabhaban.

"After getting a formal invitation, we will sit in a meeting (do decide) whether we will join the dialogue and what will be our strategy if we decide to join," he told The Daily Star.

The five-year tenure of the incumbent Commission, led by Chief Election Commission KM Nurul Huda, will expire in mid-February next.

Now there are 39 registered political parties, according to the EC website. But only nine parties have representation in Parliament.

The nine parties are Bangladesh Awami League, Jatiya Party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Ganoforum, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Jatiya Party-JP.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told UNB that they also still did not get any letter from Bangabhaban to participate in the dialogue.

"If we get any such letter, we'll make a decision at our party forum whether we'll join it or not," he added.

As per the constitution, the EC should be formed under a law, but this law has not been enacted yet in Bangladesh.

The new election commission will have to arrange the 12th national election within November 2023 to January 2024.