EC to start electoral talks with political parties on 13 Nov

The Election Commission (EC) will begin its dialogue with political parties on 13 November ahead of the national election. 

The discussions, to be held in multiple phases, will involve all parties registered with the commission, Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam told The Business Standard today (9 November).

According to the EC, it plans to invite leaders of political parties to dialogue sessions twice a day — in the morning and in the afternoon. The commission intends to invite all registered political parties, including the Jatiyo Party, to the talks. However, since the Awami League's political activities has been suspended, it will not be invited to participate.

Meanwhile, several political parties have been demanding that partners of the 14-party alliance, including the Jatiyo Party, be barred from participating in the upcoming national election, labeling them as "collaborators of fascism".

Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker told The Business Standard, "We will invite the political parties in groups. Six parties will be invited at a time, with three representatives from each. So, there will be a dialogue with 18 representatives at once. In total, we plan to hold discussions with 50 to 55 political parties."

When asked whether the Jatiyo Party would be invited, he said, "The Jatiyo Party is facing internal issues. Once those are resolved, we will decide on their invitation."

Meanwhile, responding to a question from journalists today (9 November) about the political dialogue, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, "We are waiting for the gazette notification of the code of conduct for candidates and political parties. Once we receive it, we will finalise the schedule for the dialogue."

The EC has already held dialogue sessions with various stakeholders, including media representatives, civil society members, election experts, and women leaders, to discuss electoral issues.

Currently, 53 political parties remain registered, while the registrations of some — such as the Awami League — are suspended, and others — including Freedom Party, Oikoboddho Nagorik Andolon, and PDP — have been canceled.

Ahead of the 13th parliamentary polls, a total of 143 political parties applied for registration within the stipulated time in June. Of them, 121 applications were rejected in the preliminary screening.

On 4 November, the EC allocated electoral symbols to three political parties — the National Citizen Party (NCP), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD-Marxist), and Bangladesh Aam Jonogon Party, following its decision to grant registration to these parties.

Earlier in September, the EC said 143 new political parties had applied for registration to contest the upcoming parliamentary election.

Of them, 121 applications were rejected during initial scrutiny, while the remaining 22 underwent further verification.

The commission later determined that these three parties met the necessary criteria for registration.

On 28 August, the commission unveiled its roadmap for the 13th national election, with a target to hold the polls in the first half of February next year before Ramadan starts.

On 31 October, Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said the schedule for the upcoming national election will be announced in the first week of December.