Siam Sarower Jamil,
Dhaka, Nov 10,
The 11th general election will be held across Bangladesh on December 23.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda announced the date while addressing the nation from the Election Commission office in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Thursday evening.
“The proper environment to organize the polls has been created (so) I urge all political parties to resolve all disputes or differences of opinions among themselves and participate in the polls,” Huda said.
“I also urge the political parties to remain alert so that competition and rivalry do not turn into retribution or violence.”
Huda’s announcement came amid repeated calls by the new opposition alliance Jatiya Oikya Front for the commission to defer the election schedule. The ruling Awami League, however, had urged the commission to stick to its plan.
Under the timetable announced by the CEC, candidates must file their nomination papers either online or manually between today and November 19.
The returning officers will then scrutinize the nomination papers on November 22, with November 29 fixed as the final date for withdrawals.
“There is a constitutional obligation to hold the election before January 28, 2019,” CEC Huda said. “The countdown has already started.”
The commissioner said the EC has almost bought all of the necessary election materials and has finished printing papers, while necessary issues were also being discussed with the concerned ministries.
The commission on Thursday also started sending nomination forms and other election materials to the senior district election officers and district election officers at its field level offices from the BG Press at Tejgaon.
