Election Commission all set to reveal roadmap to national polls

The Election Commission has finalised its roadmap for the next one and a half years, aiming for an all-inclusive parliamentary polls.

The KM Nurul Huda-led commission, which took office almost five months ago, will oversee the 11th parliamentary election due between late 2018 and early 2019.

"The commission has approved its work plan until the national elections. It has been published as a booklet and the chief election commissioner will unveil it on Sunday," Election Commission or EC Secretary Mohammad Abdullah told bdnews24.com.

He said the EC will hold a series of talks with all stakeholders, which would centre on seven specific issues:

*Legal reforms to strengthen the electoral process

*Accept recommendations to make the election process simple and timely

*Delimiting the constituencies to finalise their territorial expanse

*Update voters' list

*Establish polling stations according to regulations  

*Fresh registrations for political parties

*Create a ' level-playing field for all' 

EC officials said the talks will start on Jul 31 and will continue through October. Meetings with civil society, media, political parties, polls observers, representatives of women's rights bodies and election experts have been scheduled.

The tenth parliament convened on Jan 29, 2014, which means the eleventh national election has to be held between Oct 30, 2018 and Jan 27, 2019.

Proposed legal reforms

The EC work plan stipulates that the existing laws do not need any radical reform at this time, but there is scope to update it to simplify the voting process.

Describing the existing process of voting through postal ballots in line with the Representation of the People Order (RPO) as complex, it emphasised devising a more simple way to vote, especially for expatriate Bangladeshis.

The rules over publishing gazette notifications over representatives who win unopposed contains ambiguity, says the commission, highlighting the need for a reform. 

The EC says it believes translating the RPO and the Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance into Bangla and making them available to all could also make elections more efficient.

In addition, the EC wants to redefine electoral constituencies according to the reorganisation of the border, new administrative areas and enclaves.

The EC also worries that assigning parliamentary seats by population can cause problems as population density gives rise to an asymmetrical situation for towns and villages.

To solve this issue, the EC has proposed that the number of voters and the size of the area should be considered when forming constituencies.

It is also possible to cap the number of seats in large cities like Dhaka, it said.

The roadmap also contains proposals for preparing and distributing voter lists, registering political parties and increasing the EC’s manpower to finish its work within the allotted time.