CEC: Election Commission fully prepared for polls

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AKM Nasir Uddin has said the commission is fully prepared for the upcoming national election.

The Election Commission is not considering holding local government elections before the national one, Nasir mentioned during a conversation with journalists at Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon on Tuesday.

In his Victory Day speech to the nation on Monday, Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus outlined a possible timeline for the 13th general election, saying it could take place late next year or in the first half of 2026.

When asked about this, the CEC said: "We have been working from day one for the national election. We have all the necessary preparations for the national election. We are fully ready to conduct the election according to the timeline indicated by the honourable chief adviser."

Regarding local government elections, he said the chief adviser gave an indication for the national election, adding that he did not say anything about local government elections.

"Our stakeholders, the political parties, have also spoken about parliamentary elections. They have talked about transferring power from an interim government to an elected government. So we are focused on the parliamentary election. At the moment, we are not thinking about any other elections."

On the issue of boundary demarcation, he said it will be done fairly. "If there were any irregularities in past boundary demarcations—if boundaries were redrawn with the intention of ensuring a candidate’s victory or defeat—we will certainly look into it. It will not be based on the boundaries from 2001, but on current considerations. That is not the point. We will do it based on fairness."

In response to a question about whether the election will be held with the existing voter list or if a new list will be created, Nasir said: "We will have a new final voter list in two months. After that, we will collect information by visiting homes.

"Many have passed away; some have been left out; some foreigners have been registered as voters; there has been voter duplication—we are receiving such information. We will verify and correct these. The election will be based on this corrected list."

When asked whether the commission will announce a roadmap, he reiterated that the chief adviser has already announced a timeline.

"We will move forward according to that. We are not thinking about announcing any public roadmap. However, we will have our own plan of action for conducting our work."