Polls schedule announcement may be deferred
Friday, 31 October 2008
Announcing schedule for the long-delayed polls may be deferred from November 2 as the chief election commissioner (CEC) said Thursday it could not be done until disposal of the delimitation disputes over parliamentary constituencies, reports UNB.
"We can't announce the schedule until the delimitation disputes over parliamentary constituencies are disposed of in the court," Dr ATM Shamsul Huda told reporters at the EC secretariat in reply to a question in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the High Court (HC) Thursday set November 2 (Sunday) for its crucial judgment on the delimitation dispute that threw into deep doubt the possibility of declaration of the election schedule the same day.
However, the CEC said even if the schedule was deferred, the declared polling date on December 18 would not be changed. "The December 18 date will remain intact," he said.
He said the announcement of the election schedule would be delayed, as the court could not give any decision about some trials on the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies.
He informed the journalists that the Commission had already appealed to the higher court against the court stay order and the hearing of this appeal would be held on November 2. "We've asked for withdrawing the stay order," he said.
About the registration deadline, which was over Thursday leaving all but two of the parties in the lurch, Dr Huda said the registration process of the political parties with the Commission would continue until the completion of final scrutiny of the parties.
"There's no final date about the registration…. As every work needs to set a target, so I made October 30 for my target to finalise the registration," he said.
He said the Commission had taken decision to give registration to the major political parties excepting Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as there were some objections against the party.
"The hearing on the objection against the registration for Jamaat will be held on November 1 to finalise the registration for it," he said.
"We can't announce the schedule until the delimitation disputes over parliamentary constituencies are disposed of in the court," Dr ATM Shamsul Huda told reporters at the EC secretariat in reply to a question in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the High Court (HC) Thursday set November 2 (Sunday) for its crucial judgment on the delimitation dispute that threw into deep doubt the possibility of declaration of the election schedule the same day.
However, the CEC said even if the schedule was deferred, the declared polling date on December 18 would not be changed. "The December 18 date will remain intact," he said.
He said the announcement of the election schedule would be delayed, as the court could not give any decision about some trials on the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies.
He informed the journalists that the Commission had already appealed to the higher court against the court stay order and the hearing of this appeal would be held on November 2. "We've asked for withdrawing the stay order," he said.
About the registration deadline, which was over Thursday leaving all but two of the parties in the lurch, Dr Huda said the registration process of the political parties with the Commission would continue until the completion of final scrutiny of the parties.
"There's no final date about the registration…. As every work needs to set a target, so I made October 30 for my target to finalise the registration," he said.
He said the Commission had taken decision to give registration to the major political parties excepting Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as there were some objections against the party.
"The hearing on the objection against the registration for Jamaat will be held on November 1 to finalise the registration for it," he said.