EC to meet on Nov 03 to set election date

Directive to complete annual exams by December 10

FE Team | Published: October 31, 2018 23:57:14

The Election Commission is scheduled to meet on November 03 to finalise the date for the 11th parliamentary election, reports bdnews24.com.
Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda will announce the election date on the state-run BTV and radio.
But officials did not disclose when Huda would speak on TV and radio.
An inter-ministerial meeting has been set for Wednesday. The next day, Huda, four election commissioners and the EC secretary will meet President Abdul Hamid.
The EC will hold the crucial meeting at 3:00 pm on November 03 to discuss the 11th parliamentary election and set the key date, the commission's Additional Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman said.
The election schedule may be announced in the first week of November, with the countdown beginning on October 31, EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed had said earlier.
The schedule will be approved at a commission meeting before its announcement via BTV and Bangladesh Betar, he said last week.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has asked the education ministry to complete all annual exams by Dec 10 across Bangladesh ahead of the general election.
"All annual exams will have to be completed before Dec 10 so that more than 41,000 polling stations are ready for the polls," EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told the media after a meeting on Wednesday.
The election to the 11th parliament must be held within 90 days of the expiry of the 10th parliament.
Accordingly, the next general election will be held between Oct 30 and Jan 28.
The government has already changed the schedule for annual exams of I to IV grades at primary schools across the country ahead of the general election.
The tests will now be held from Nov 29 to Dec 6 instead of Dec 11 to 18, according to a notice published by the primary and mass education ministry.
"We have been informed about the possibility of holding a national election anytime after mid-December," an education official said.
The schools are used as polling stations during elections in Bangladesh. Teachers also work as election officials at the time.