The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the upcoming 12th National Parliamentary election in November, with the election likely in the last week of December this year, or in the first week of January next year.
Election Commissioner Mohammad Anisur Rahman came up with these disclosures while talking to the media at his office in the Election Commission building on Wednesday.
"We usually announce the schedule with 40 to 45 days in hand. In this case, the schedule will be announced on any day of November", said the Election Commissioner.
He, however, said that the EC had yet not held any meeting regarding the election schedule.
Talking about ballot papers, the Election Commissioner said that ballot papers will be sent to centres in the morning of the polling day in places where communication is good except for remote and island areas.
Besides, he said, there will be an opportunity to submit nomination papers both online and offline in the next elections.
"We are developing an app to simplify the selection process. I want to introduce it before the national elections. Hopefully, it will be launched in November," he said.
When asked whether the political parties will be called for dialogue, EC Anisur said, "We will not be initiating another call for dialogue. We asked them [for dialogue] and they did not respond. Let political matters be handled by politicians."
The present Awami League government stands by their decision to hold the next election under the Election Commission.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some other minor opposition parties have been demanding a neutral caretaker government during the election period.
But, the Caretaker Government system is an unconstitutional one and that is why the Supreme Court in one of its earlier rules rejected the system.
