Bangladesh Election Commissioner says Elections to be held within time set by interim government ntc
The Bangladesh Election Commission on Sunday reiterated its commitment to free and fair elections, saying it will hold general elections at the time decided by the interim government. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin made the remarks during an event where the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) handed over the technical equipment needed to update voter lists, Bangladesh newspaper Dhaka Tribune reported.
Elections will be held in the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026
The Election Commission received 175 laptops, 200 scanners and 4,300 bags for data collection from UNDP. BDnews24 news portal quoted the CEC as saying, ‘We are focusing on the deadline announced by the Honorable Chief Advisor and are working towards it.’
Last month, Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus had said that the next general elections in the country could be held in the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026. However, he had said that the timing of the elections would largely depend on political consensus and the extent of reforms to be done before that.
‘It will take six months to update the voter list’
This comment of Nasir Uddin came a few days after the demand of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in which she had said that general elections should be held by July or August this year. When asked about this, the Chief Election Commissioner said that the Election Commission does not want to get involved in politics. He said that it will take six months to update the voter list.
‘EC committed to free and fair elections’
According to the report, he said, ‘We do not want to comment on political statements. We will follow the law, rules and order. Nasir Uddin said that the people of the country expect free and fair elections. The Commission is committed to fulfilling this expectation. The process of voter list update will be done with transparency.
