Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) has completed all preparations to hold the 13th general elections in February and will announce the schedule in the next two days, a top official said on Tuesday. “After a meeting with the President (Mohammad Shahabuddin), the schedule would be announced tomorrow evening or the day after,” Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told reporters.
He said that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at the Bangabhaban presidential palace. Meanwhile, the EC officials said that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin was expected to announce the schedule in a nationwide address. The CEC met Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Tuesday at the Supreme Court ahead of the announcement of the date for elections and a referendum to seek public opinions on a series of reform proposals rolled out by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has emerged as the frontrunner, with its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami and its right-wing Islamic allies being the main rival in the absence of deposed premier Sheikh Hasina’s disbanded Awami League. Both parties have announced their nominees in the election for the 300-seat parliament.
Masud said that special emphasis will be given to ensuring the cooperation of all, including political parties, in the announcement of the election schedule. He also said that the symbols of any banned or suspended parties will not appear in the final postal ballots, in a veiled reference to the Awami League. A special tribunal last month sentenced Hasina to death on charges of crimes against humanity. She is currently in India. Most of her senior colleagues and activists in the party and Government were in jail awaiting trial on identical charges, while many of them are on the run at home and abroad.
The scenario made it difficult for Awami League leaders to contest the polls as independent candidates despite having a large support base. Meanwhile, tension between Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP over election campaigning in the Sirajganj-1 constituency erupted into violence Monday night, injuring around 15 Jamaat activists, party sources said. The BNP has denied involvement, blaming locals for the clash.
