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While the two main political camps are locked in frenzied wrangling over the oversight mechanism, the Election Commission is going ahead full throttle on organising the 12th parliamentary polls.
Tenders have been issued to procure 11 types of items needed for the election. Some of these items have been supplied, according to election officials.
The commission has prepared a list of jobs to do before and after announcement of the schedule, according to bdnews24.com.
These include getting 80,000 new transparent ballot boxes for nearly 120 million voters, securing materials like indelible ink for voting, making the voter list for each constituency, training the people who will manage the voting process, creating the election guidebook and nomination papers, and finalising the list of polling centres.
This time, the constitutional body has discarded the plan to utilise electronic voting machines or EVMs, and CCTV cameras for voting.
However, the in-progress election management app will offer voters and EC officials all the information about electoral areas, voter numbers, voting centres and candidates.
The constitution stipulates the next election must be held within 90 days before Jan 29, 2024.
This means the 12th national election countdown will begin on Nov 1.
As is tradition, the EC meets the president after sitting with ministries soon after the countdown starts. It then finalises the voting date in its own meeting.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said the election will be scheduled for either the last week of December or the first week of January.
The BNP is pushing for conducting the national election under an interim, non-partisan caretaker government, but the ruling Awami League opposes this proposal.
Under the circumstances, the CEC stresses the need for consensus among the political parties.
He believes that an agreement will be reached before the voting.
The preparations are going smoothly, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told reporters on Monday.
He said everything is expected to be ready by the last week of October.
The CEC had previously indicated that the election schedule could be disclosed in the first week of November.
Ashok said that over 50 tasks are consistently being updated and reported to the commission to keep track of their progress.
The printing of ballot papers will start after the withdrawal of candidacy.
Ashok said they will start forming a group of polling officers in September.
They are also in the process of finalising polling stations and preparing training of trainers.
Meetings with different ministries, law-enforcing agencies, observers, and a step-by-step approach to work will take place.
He said that post-schedule tasks will progress gradually after the announcement.
EC officials estimate that organising the election and maintaining law and order could cost about Tk 10 billion for this parliamentary election.
PRE- AND POST-ELECTION TASKS
Ashok said many tasks have been accomplished, including discussions following a roadmap, legal reforms and amendments, updating the voter list, redrawing boundaries, and registering new political parties.
Registration of observers is expected to be finished in about a month, and polling stations will be finalised in September.
Items needed for the election include ballot papers and result sheets, official seals, marking seals, brass seals, red seals, packaging boxes, indelible ink, forms, packets, needles, threads, envelopes, and candles.
The materials used for voting also include clear ballot boxes, indelible ink pens, seals for the ballot boxes, stamp pads and red sealing wax.
The tasks to be done before the schedule include printing nomination papers.
Tasks after the schedule announcement include providing instructions to ministries, sending circulars to returning officers, appointing polling officers, forming election investigation committees, arranging magistrates appointments, publishing polling station details, granting permissions to journalists and observers, distributing materials, and holding meetings with law enforcement agencies and organisations.
Once the complete list of candidates is obtained, preparations for printing the ballot papers commence.
EC SKIPS EVM, CCTV CAMERAS; APP RETAINED
The plan to introduce EVMs in 150 out of 300 constituencies moved forward initially but was eventually abandoned due to financial constraints and political disagreements.
Similarly, the proposal to utilise CCTV cameras in 300 constituencies is uncertain and might be dropped.
However, the EC is working on the Bangladesh Election App, set to launch in November, aiming to modernise the voting process.
Election Commissioner Md Ahsan Habib Khan explained that even though the upcoming parliamentary elections will use paper ballots, the app is being developed to make things easier for candidates and voters and reduce troubles.
After voting, the app will show results based on polling centres, including the seats won by each party and the nearest candidate's names with their votes.
Habib said they are preparing to allow candidates to submit their nomination papers online.