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Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Abdul Fazal Md Sanaullah has informed the foreign diplomats stationed here that the Election Commission is making preparations assuming that the next general election is in December.
"We have told them that we have to make preparations by assuming the earliest date (to hold the election). Our position is still unchanged. We are making preparations by assuming December. We do not have different preparations,” he told reporters after a meeting at Nirbachan Bhaban on Tuesday, as per a UNB report.
The meeting was held meeting between the Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin and foreign diplomats from 18 countries and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at Nirbachan Bhaban here.
Responding to a question, he said the Election Commission (EC) may consider holding local government elections before the national polls if the government makes such a request.
"Based on past experience, conducting elections for five tiers of local government takes about a year. Not all local government institutions have become ineffective—some have. Given these conditional factors, it is not possible to provide a specific timeline," he said.
He expressed confidence that the government would take the commission’s schedule into account.
The commission will also remain vigilant to ensure that nothing disrupts the national elections, EC Sanaullah assured.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Monday that Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus informed them that his government is working to arrange the next general election by December this year.
“The Chief Adviser and those who were with him assured us that they will arrange the election very soon. He (Prof Yunus) has also said they are working to arrange the election by December this year,” Fakhrul said while talking to reporters after a meeting with the Chief Adviser.
Mirza Fakhrul led a three-member BNP delegation during the 90-minute meeting with the Chief Adviser at state guest house Jamuna here in the evening.