Preparatory meeting held on printing for 13th national elections

A meeting was held today between the officials of the Election Commission (EC) and the Directorate of Printing and Publication to assess the demand for materials required for the 13th National Parliament elections, as well as to determine the possible budget and stock.

The meeting was held to assess the demand for election materials, the possible budget, to verify existing stock, and the timeframe needed to complete the procurement and printing process.

After the meeting, EC Secretariat Secretary Akhter Ahmed told reporters that the Election Commission has made preparations to purchase necessary paper and carry out the printing work within four months before the elections.

He said the work is being organised so that the preparations for the elections are not delayed. 

"The main issue is how much time it takes from paper procurement to printing. They [officials] said it takes about four months. So, things will proceed based on backward calculation. Once a decision is made regarding the election date or schedule, we will align our preparations accordingly using that backward calculation," Akhter Ahmed said.

EC officials said that 21 types of forms, 17 types of packets, five types of identity cards, code of conduct, symbol posters, election management manual, training manual, guidelines, and many other things have to be printed for the parliamentary elections.

Regarding the discussions, Secretary Akhter Ahmed said, "The meeting discussed getting an idea of the amount of paper required for the upcoming elections, budget allocation for this, and making arrangements for disposal of the papers from previous elections that are in the BG Press if their quality has deteriorated."