JS polls on January 5

The 10th parliamentary election will be held on January 5, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed announced in an address to the nation this evening.

He added that the aspirants will get till December 2 to submit their nomination.

The nomination papers will be scrutinised on December 5-6. The last date for withdrawing candidature is December 13, the CEC said.

In his 30-minute address from 7:35pm, Rakibuddin said, "We waited with an expectation for the political parties to come to an understanding regarding the election-time government. But we cannot wait further as there is a constitutional obligation to hold the election by January 24, 2014."

The CEC in his speech highlighted their preparations to hold the election.

He said a number of changes have been to the electoral code of conduct to ensure level-playing field for all including the prime minister, opposition leader and other ministers during the election period.

The CEC added that they would be able to conduct election campaign using government facilities from today. "But they will be provided with stipulated security."

In the televised address, Rakibuddin said armed forces will be deployed to ensure security during the election.

He urged the people involved with the election process to work going above any biasness and intimidation. "In failure to discharging duties in an unbiased manner, we would not hesitate to take action against the election officials."

Earlier in the afternoon, the CEC confirmed that he would address the nation at 7:30pm where he would announce the schedule.

The Election Commission later issued a press statement on the CEC’s address to the nation which was broadcast on Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar.

“The chief election commissioner will address the nation at 7:30pm today where he will announce the schedule of 10th parliamentary election and preparations for it,” reads the statement.

The move comes amid threats by the main opposition party that it would paralyse the country if the election schedule is announced before a non-party polls-time government is formed to oversee the election.

Ignoring the opposition’s demand and threats to foil the election, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina moved to bring changes to the cabinet, terming it as an ‘all-party polls time cabinet’ to oversee the next parliamentary election.

But she could only manage to bring in lawmakers from her allies Jatiya Party and Workers Party, aside from her own party.

However, the PM yesterday extended an invitation to the opposition chief Khaleda Zia, offering any ministry the BNP leader wants for joining the polls-time cabinet.

The BNP-led opposition combine, meanwhile, threatened to paralyse the country the moment a schedule for the polls published.