Election commissioner Shah Nawaz said on Sunday the Election Commission has got necessary ‘legal’ guidelines from the prime minister’s address to the nation with regard to the next parliamentary election. ‘We have got the necessary legal guidelines for the election from the prime minister’s speech. We came to know through the speech that the election will be held by January 24 as per the constitution,’ he told reporters at his EC secretariat office at Sher-e-Banglanagar in the city.
The election commissioner, however, did not specify what type of legal guidelines the EC required and what type of guidelines it got from the prime minister’s speech.
He said it would have been better for the EC to prepare the electoral code of conduct for the political parties as well as for the candidates in the next polls had the commission got a clear idea about the framework of the polls-time government.
‘It depends on political solution under which type of government the 10th parliamentary election will be held,’ he noted.
The EC is now taking preparation for election in line with the constitution after getting guidelines from the prime minister’s address to the nation, he added.
The commission will change electoral code of conduct for political parties and candidates for the next polls. ‘In the code of conduct, the level-playing field will be ensured for all—those who will be in power and outside the power,’ he noted.
The election commissioner said the commission would send the draft electoral code of conduct to the registered political parties to get their views on the matter and only then it would finalise the electoral code of conduct for the next polls.
The draft code of conduct will also be uploaded on the EC’s website to make it available for all.
‘The draft code of conduct will be sent to the registered political parties and it will be finalised only after taking suggestions from them (political parties),’ Shah Nawaz said.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, addressed the nation on Friday when she said the 10th parliamentary polls will be held in between October 25 and January 24, 2014 in line with the existing constitutional provision.
She also called on the main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to give names from their lawmakers to form an election-time multi-party government.
-With New Age input
