The Election Commission (EC) has rejected the BNP’s claim that the Prime Minister has violated the code of conduct for elections by seeking vote for the ruling party.
“The Code becomes applicable only after the elections are formally announced,” Election Commissioner Md Shah Nawaz said on Sunday minutes after the opposition’s charge.
He said the EC was not concerned with what happened before the polls were declared.
BNP spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had accused Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina of violating the electoral code of conduct by spending government money on party propaganda in the rundown to the parliament polls.
Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia had also asked voters to exercise their franchise in favour of her party.
The 10th parliamentary polls are expected to take place anytime between October this year and January next year.
Shah Nawaz said the ‘countdown’ to the election would begin by the end of October and the Commission would then decide on the polls schedule.
“We have not decided in which month the polls would be organised but we are preparing to organise one within 90 days after the end of the government’s tenure,” he said.
“The election date would be finalised after considering the circumstances,” he added.
EC officials say the embargo on campaigning is from the time the polls schedule is announced up until the electoral symbols are allocated.
They say the code of conduct comes into effect in the ‘pre-election’ period.
‘Pre-election’ period is the time between dissolution of Parliament and the publication of the gazette notification of the results of the election for the next Parliament.
Section 17 of the code provides for punishment for irregularities in the pre-election period.
Source: bdnews24
