Special correspondent
The Election Commission (EC) today said that the election action plan for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election may be announced tomorrow, said Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
He shared the information with the reporters on Wednesday afternoon at the EC headquarters in the capital, after the final day of hearings on parliamentary constituency delimitation.
When asked about the date of publication of the election action plan, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to provide you with some more details, something better, some additional information. Please wait til then.”
In response to a question on whether the election roadmap would be unveiled tomorrow, the secretary said, “If I reveal everything today, then what would I keep as a secret for tomorrow? We will share with you the action plan we have prepared.”
When asked why the action plan, which was supposed to be released last week, was delayed, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “It is my own shortcoming. I have to admit that. Since I was outside Dhaka, I might have fallen a bit behind.”
He added, “It has been done, it is probably on my desk now. Can’t you wait just until tomorrow? Holding it back for a single day won’t make much difference. As I’ve already said, tomorrow I will have the chance to tell you more. Until then, well… let the curiosity remain.”
Meanwhile, referring to last Sunday’s scuffle between representatives of two Brahmanbaria constituencies during the constituency delimitation hearing, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed described the incident as “regrettable” and said it would have been better if it had not happened.
When asked what action the EC had taken in this regard, the secretary said that a general diary (GD) had been filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. “This is not something directly related to the Election Commission. If people start shoving each other outside for some reason, the responsibility doesn’t lie with the institution,” he said.
The EC secretary added, “We filed a general diary with the police, giving them the responsibility. We told the police to take necessary measures regarding this. I think that’s as much as I should say.”
On August 24, the EC organized a hearing at the auditorium of its Agargaon office over the boundary demarcation of two Brahmanbaria constituencies. During the session, a clash broke out between supporters of BNP nomination-aspirant Rumeen Farhana from Brahmanbaria-2 and Khaled Mahbub Hossain Shyamol, BNP’s district president and nomination-aspirant for Brahmanbaria-3. At that time, Md Ataullah, joint chief organizer (southern region) of the central committee of the National Citizen Party (NCP), was also assaulted by BNP activists.
Commenting on the incident, Akhtar Ahmed said, “This was highly undesirable. It should not have happened and it would have been better if it hadn’t. But this is also a lesson for us—that many unexpected things can suddenly occur. That is part of life. Still, it would have been better if it had not taken place. It is a regrettable incident for all of us.”
EC Secretary said that during the four-day hearings on parliamentary constituency redemarcation, a total of 1,893 objections and recommendations were received regarding 84 constituencies across 33 districts. He added, “We have recorded all the opinions we received. After review, we will publish the final list as soon as possible.”
Earlier today, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said that the commission has already approved the election roadmap, which will be made public within a day or two.