Election likely to be held in first week of January: Shah nawaz
The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the upcoming general election by Monday with possible polling date in early January.
“The schedule for the 10th parliamentary polls will be announced by November 25, and the election is likely to be held in the first week of January,” Election Commissioner Mohammad Shah Nawaz told reporters in Chandpur on Friday. He said preparations for holding the polls were already complete and the schedule would be announced after a meeting of the EC either on Sunday or Monday.
Accordingly, the election will be held in the first week of January, he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, the commissioner told reporters that the Election Commission was planning to announce the schedule for the polls next week.
“No one should be worried about the preparations for holding the elections. We are getting ready to hold it as mandated by the constitution. We are hopeful that we would be able to conduct a free, fair and participatory election,” the election commissioner said.
He also said that the electoral code of conduct would be implemented following the announcement of the schedule.
On Wednesday, Shah Nawaz also said the nation was expecting a consensus among all political parties regarding the election.
Sources said the EC was taking time for announcing the schedule considering the possibility of the BNP’s participation in the upcoming election. The EC also requested the president to take steps to ensure a participatory election.
Meanwhile, some political analysts observed that, if the BNP insists on reconstitution of the EC as a condition for contesting the election, the scenario might be changed and that is why the EC is yet to announce the schedule.
The main opposition has long been demanding reconstitution of the EC, saying that the incumbent EC is acting as per the directives of the government.
According to the constitution, the election has to be held by January 25.
The last parliamentary election was held on December 29, 2008 under a caretaker government. The election, contested by all major political parties, saw the Awami League-led grand alliance sweep the polls by an overwhelming majority.
But this time, the government is preparing to hold the election under an ‘all-party’ interim government, putting the main opposition BNP at loggerheads with the government.
The BNP has been agitating for polls under a non-partisan caretaker government and threatens to boycott the polls unless it is held under a non-party government.
-With The Independent input
