The Election Commission, headed by Kazi Habibul Awal, has started laying the groundwork for the 12th national election.
The commission has drafted an action plan emphasising nine issues, including the use of electronic voting machines and other forms of technology, the registration of new political parties and the delimitation of constituencies.
The EC Secretariat will soon finalise the timeframe for implementing each facet of the plan.
The five-member commission, which took office in February, has already held talks with eminent citizens about the next parliamentary election, reports bdnews24.com.
It also exchanged views on EVMs with political parties. The next round of dialogues will take place later this month.
In the meantime, the commission is readying an outline of the preparatory work for the elections.
"We’ve drafted a roadmap ahead of the elections. The commission will further review and finalise a timeframe for carrying out the work. It’ll also hold dialogues with political parties," said Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath.
“A roadmap was also prepared by the previous commission ahead of the last parliamentary election. Our work is also ongoing. The commission will take all relevant factors into consideration before finalising the draft."
The 12th parliamentary election is likely to be held between November 2023 and January 2024. As the first session of the eleventh parliament convened on Jan 30, 2019, the constitution requires the next elections to be completed by Jan 29, 2024.
Officials said they are working on the assumption that the election schedule would be announced in November next year.
They plan to complete the registration of new parties, dialogues and legal reforms this year, while finalising the voter roll and demarcating constituency boundaries at the start of 2023.
The commission will then turn its focus on the election budget, the finalisation of polling stations, preparation of election materials, discussions with local and foreign organisations and parties, and other campaign-related work, according to officials.