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The Election Commission will decide the dates and phases of the upcoming Union Parishad (UP) elections at a commission meeting on Monday, Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said on Thursday.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists at the Election Commission building in Agargaon.
Replying to a question, Sanaullah said the commission meeting would be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, with all four election commissioners attending.
“The dates for the start of the Union Parishad elections and the dates for each phase will be announced at the meeting,” he said.
He clarified that the Election Commission itself would not announce the election schedule. Rather, district election officers would announce the schedules based on the slots determined by the commission.
“We will indicate the slots in which the elections will be held,” he said.
Sanaullah said the commission expected to complete all the election phases within the timeframe it had indicated at its initial briefing.
The EC will also hold discussions with registered political parties and other stakeholders soon after announcing the UP election slots.
The commission had initially planned to hold consultations with stakeholders from September 23 to 25, but the programme was postponed after it became clear that elections could not be held in November.
Asked when the dialogue with political parties would be held, Sanaullah said it would take place immediately after the commission announces the number of phases and their dates.
“Everything will proceed in sequence. We have a commission meeting on Monday, where we will discuss the matter. We will be able to say more after that,” he said.
Regarding the EC’s meeting with the European Union, Sanaullah said they discussed a range of issues, including the EU’s activities concerning postal ballots.
He said the EU representatives were particularly interested in recommendations made by the European Election Observation Mission, including recommendations for different stakeholders.
“They expressed interest in whether they could provide further support in these areas. We have welcomed that. If they want to expand the scope of cooperation with us, we will welcome it,” Sanaullah said.