Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed has said there is no scope to defer the 11th general election by three weeks.
The commission took the decision after evaluating Jatiya Oikya Front’s polls postponement demands at a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda and four other election commissioners on Thursday.
The commission secretary made the remarks at an urgent press conference held at the Media Centre of the Election Commission office in Dhaka in the afternoon.
He said the commission did an in-depth analysis of the Oikya Front demands and reached the conclusion that the demands were not rational enough and unrealistic.
“That is why it has been decided that delaying the vote further will not be right.”
Helal said some legal and constitutional issues would also rise if the election is deferred to January.
“Bishwa Ijtema is also scheduled for that month. Therefore, the commission has decided that the polls will be held on December 30,” he added.
“Issues like holding of re-election, by-elections, and investigation of irregularities in elections, publication of gazette and administration of oath to newly elected parliamentary members will also take place in January. Enough time will be needed for all these tasks,” he said.
Responding to a query about using electronic voting machines (EVM) and deployment of the army, the secretary said “The decision taken by the commission is final and everything will be held according to the schedule.”
Bishwa Ijtema will be held in the second or third week of January.
Every year, about three to four million Muslims participate in the Ijtema, and a huge number of law enforcement officials are deployed for supervising the event.
On Wednesday, Jatiya Oikya Front, comprising BNP and several other parties, demanded the Election Commission defer the elections set for December 30, by three more weeks.
