Election Commission meets OIC diplomats to outline plans for upcoming national polls

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin and three of his colleagues in the commission are providing an update on election preparations

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, accompanied by three election commissioners and the Election Commission secretary, attends a meeting with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation mission heads at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon on Monday, Mar 17, 2025.

The Election Commission, or EC, has opened a meeting with the heads of missions from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, member states to brief them on preparations for the next general election in Bangladesh.

The meeting began on Monday at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, three other election commissioners, and the EC secretary in attendance.

Invitations were sent to mission heads from Afghanistan, Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Apart from providing an update on the progress of election preparations, the commission is seeking support in registering expatriate Bangladeshis as voters and implementing a voting system for overseas citizens, according to EC officials.

Previously, the EC assured development partners that election preparations were advancing in line with the timeline announced by the government. British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke was among the foreign dignitaries who recently visited the commission offices to discuss election preparations.

Earlier, CEC Nasir said that the commission was "fully prepared" for the national election and confirmed that no local government elections would take place before the parliamentary polls.

In his address to the nation on Victory Day, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus outlined a potential timeline for the election. He indicated that the parliamentary election could be held either in late 2025 or during the first half of 2026, depending on political consensus.