Staff Reporter:
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah has categorically said that the schedule for the 13th parliamentary election will be announced in the first half of December.
EC Sanaullah came up with the announcement after a meeting held at the commission’s Agargaon office in Dhaka on Thursday with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin in the chair.
The meeting began around 11:00 am at the EC secretariat and continued until 7:00 pm, with intermittent breaks.
If the schedule is announced in the stipulated time, the 13th parliamentary election could take place before February, he said.
According to some sources, the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin on 18 February 2026, he said, adding that two to four days will be needed for oath taking and assuming office for the new government.
“We hope the election will be held before all of this and that the schedule will be announced at least 60 days before the polls,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Adviser’s Office on Wednesday night wrote to the Election Commission to arrange the election before Ramadan to be observed in February next year.
The issues, including the rules and regulations of the political parties, their candidates, Representation of the People Order (RPO), a foundational law in Bangladesh that governs parliamentary elections and political party registration, voting process for the expatriates and the use of technology during the election, were widely discussed in the meeting, he said.
Responding to a query about using drones at polling centres, he said that no person, even media men, will be allowed to use such technology to collect any information, photos or videos of the election.
About the use of CCTV at the polling centres, he said the commission is in favour of using this device, but the decision has not yet been finalised.
This year, expatriate Bangladeshis will be able to cast their votes through postal ballot papers and ballot papers will be sent to the respective polling centres three weeks before the election, he added.
Bangladesh Post Office and the Election Commission will jointly deal with the issue, said EC Sanaullah.
According to the EC’s initial decision, those who become voters by 31 October will be able to cast their votes in the next general election, added the commissioner.
