Staff Correspondent

Electoral Reform Commission chief Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar said on Thursday that they intend to submit their recommendations to the government by 31 December.

There is no necessity for formal dialogue with political parties, as clear opinions from stakeholders are already being collected, he noted while speaking to journalists after the commission's 12th meeting at the Election Commission secretariat on Thursday.

When asked whether the commission would engage in discussions with political parties, he responded, “Our work is technical. It’s purely technical. We don’t need to exchange views in that sense, as we do not hold decision-making authority.”

“We are seeking their specific opinions and recommendations on enhancing the election system to ensure credibility, impartiality, and greater participation. Dialogue between political parties and the government will be informed by the proposals we, alongside other reform commissions, submit. We are committed to collecting detailed and clear opinions from them,” he added.

In response to a question about gathering opinions in the absence of dialogue, Dr Majumdar commented, “I don’t believe sitting down for discussions is essential. What we need are specific and clear ideas, not general statements, which we are all familiar with. Political parties possess considerable experience, so we are focused on obtaining their precise insights.”

“Our responsibility is not to conduct a flawless election. Rather, our role is to provide recommendations for ensuring the smooth functioning of the electoral system. We have been given a timeline until 31st December, within which we will deliver our recommendations,” he continued.

When questioned regarding the recent government directive on forming the Election Commission via a search committee – particularly as the commission had initially planned to propose reforms for this search committee – Dr Majumdar explained, “An Election Commission is critical at present. The government will determine this process. The search committee will conduct its tasks in its own time, while we proceed with ours.”

“Some of the recommendations we provide will be implemented by the government and others by the Election Commission. We, therefore, have no involvement with the search committee itself,” he clarified.

“To date, we have conducted 12 formal meetings, alongside various informal discussions. In this process, we are learning as if students, reviewing a large number of laws and regulations. Based on these reviews, we will identify key issues and gather opinions from various stakeholders.

“Following this, we will be prepared to submit our recommendations to the government. We also discussed enabling expatriate voters to participate in the electoral process,” said Dr Majumdar, head of the Electoral Reform Commission.

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Sadik Al Arman, a private university student representative, joined as the commission’s seventh member, to whom Dr Majumdar expressed his gratitude.

The meeting was attended by other commission members, including Dr Tofail Ahmed, Jasmine Tuli, Dr Md Abdul Alim, Dr Zahed Ur Rahman, Mir Nadia Nivin, Mohammad Sadek Ferdous, Election Commission’s System Manager Muhammad Ashraf Hossain, and Deputy Secretary Md Atiar Rahman.