A delegation from the National Citizens Party (NCP) met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin to demand the assurance of voting rights for expatriates.
During the meeting, they recommended that the Election Commission take appropriate measures to ensure expatriate voting rights.
On Wednesday, NCP held a meeting with the CEC at the Election Commission Secretariat in Agargaon, Dhaka. Later, the party’s Joint Convener Khaled Saifullah presented the discussion topics before journalists.
Khaled Saifullah said: “Expatriate Bangladeshis are contacting us regarding voting rights. They are expressing frustration over the uncertainty of their voting rights. Our Chief Adviser, Professor Mohammad Yunus has said that voting rights for expatriates must be established, but there has been no update from the Election Commission. Some leaders from certain political parties have expressed doubts about whether those living abroad will be able to vote.”
He further said: “The Election Commission should conduct online briefings every week. Through these briefings, expatriates will be able to stay updated. Our brothers and sisters abroad who want to vote do not receive updates. Many of our expatriate voters do not have NIDs. They are not registered as voters. The Election Commission says that registration is starting in 14 countries. But in the countries where registration is supposedly starting, many of our people are saying they don’t know how to proceed. That’s why we came to the Election Commission and asked them to provide us with a specific roadmap so that expatriates can ensure their voting rights.”
Regarding registration and the party symbol, the NCP leader said: “We have requested the water lily as our symbol—this is our legal argument. We believe we are eligible to receive it. We have submitted the documents required for our registration, totaling 43,000 pages. However, they have pointed out some minor technical issues, which we will correct and resubmit. Our deadline is August 3. We will submit everything before that.”
Also present at the time were NCP’s Joint Member Secretary Advocate Zahirul Islam Musa and NCP Diaspora Alliance’s Global Coordinator Tariq Adnan Moon.