Electoral Reform Commission will file report by Jan 3, says Badiul

The commission has sought the opinion of the new Election Commission before finalising its report

The Electoral Reform Commission aims to submit its report to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus by Friday.

Before finalising the report, the commission consulted with the newly appointed Election Commission.

The commission’s chief Badiul Alam Majumdar met Chief Election Commissioner, or CEC, AMM Nasir Uddin at the Election Building in Dhaka’s Agragaon on Sunday.

The Election Commission highlighted the reforms regarding boundary redrawing and the inclusion of young voters in the electoral roll.

Badiul said, "We will try to submit the report to the government by the 31st of December, but if that is not possible, we will submit it by the 3rd of January."

“They [Electoral Reform Commission] came to discuss their work; they will submit the report soon,” CEC Nasir told the journalists after the meeting.

He added, “They asked if we have any recommendations or statements, and we shared our views on several matters."

When asked about the topics discussed, the CEC said: “There are issues related to the redefinition of parliamentary constituency boundaries and some matters regarding the voter list. We will have some recommendations on these important election-related issues.

“Whether they make recommendations or not, we must address these issues. Otherwise, we won't be able to proceed with boundary redefinition."

He continued, “We may need to make changes if we want to include the younger generation in the voter list.

“The Electoral Reform Commission is considering reforms in this regard."

The CEC said the Election Reform Commission was not asked about their recommendations. Instead, the Election Commission’s needs were communicated at the meeting.