EC likely to unveil national polls roadmap today

The roadmap received final approval yesterday (27 August) at a meeting attended by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, four other election commissioners, and EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.

Yesterday, responding to a query from reporters at a press conference held at the EC building, Akhtar hinted that the national election roadmap may be announced today.

"You will have to wait [for the announcement] until tomorrow," he said.

The election roadmap is expected to cover key issues, including party registration, constituency delimitation, election observers, reforms to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), issuance of rules and regulations, IT-based voter registration, a postal ballot system for expatriates, and procurement of election equipment.

The practice of announcing a formal election roadmap was first introduced in 2007. On 15 July of that year, the then Election Commission unveiled a comprehensive one-and-a-half-year plan, outlining a timeline for declaring the election schedule and conducting the polls between October and December 2008.

This approach later became widely known as the "roadmap" — a structured list of preparatory tasks.

In a televised address to the nation on 5 August this year, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced that the 13th parliamentary election would be held before Ramadan, in February next year. The following day, the Chief Adviser's Office formally instructed the EC to begin preparations.

The CEC said the election schedule would be announced about two months before polling day, with the commission planning to announce it in the first half of December, reports TBS.