Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) plans to hold dialogues with registered political parties at the end of this month to discuss issues related to the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election.
The EC might ask the parties to bring their proposals in writing at the dialogues for helping the authorities organise a free and fair election, said an official seeking anonymity.
In the last several months, the EC conducted multiple such meetings with the political parties. In those meetings, the parties brought proposals and the commission worked on them.
Meanwhile, the parties also gave their opinions on consensus within the commission which the EC took into account. For this reason, the EC decided to send letters to all political parties 10 days before the dialogues and request them to bring written proposals, the official said.
The EC would schedule separate sessions for like-minded political parties during the dialogues.
The authorities believe this would help maintain discipline in the discussions.
According to the EC-announced roadmap, the commission plans to start dialogues with political parties and other stakeholders in the last week of September.
At the moment, 51 parties, including the Awami League, are registered with the EC. Before the 9th parliamentary election in 2008, the registration system was introduced.
Meanwhile, the EC completed field investigations of 22 new political parties. Once the review process is completed, more parties may receive registrations.
