EC plans dialogues with parties

The Election Commission is planning to hold dialogues with all registered political parties to finalise its work plan for holding the next general elections.
‘The commission is planning to start the dialogues with 40 registered parties from September,’ a senior commission official told New Age on Tuesday.
He said that in the dialogues the commission would discuss necessary amendments to the electoral laws, rules and the electoral code of conduct.
According to him, the dialogues would also discuss the proposed use of Electronic Voting Machine in the next general elections which was earlier criticised in 2010.
He said that chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda already asked the election management department of the commission to prepare the agenda for the dialogue.
The commission also asked the department to ready necessary proposals for amendment to the electoral laws, rules and code of conduct by August as the proposals would be discussed in the dialogues, the official said.
The commission would also hold dialogues other stakeholders, including journalists and civil society representatives after the dialogues with the parties, he said.
He said that the commission was also planning to invite applications for registration of new political parties in October and to complete the registration process by February 2018.
The commission would complete the delimitations of the 300 parliamentary constituencies by August and publish the gazette notification on the delimitations by December resolving the disputes, if any, the official said.
Addressing a meeting in Chittagong on Monday, the chief election commissioner said that the commission would consult all the stakeholders, including political parties, before the next general elections to earn trust from all quarters.
Commission officials said that the commission was now preparing a work plan for holding the 11th parliament elections between October 30, 2018 and January 28, 2019.
The election to the 10th parliament was held on January 5, 2014 that drew widespread criticism as all opposition political parties boycotted the polls and candidates in 153 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies were elected uncontested. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net