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EC plans to start party registration next month

Staff Correspondent
The Election Commission (EC) plans to begin the process for registration of political parties with it from June and extend the dead line by three months for completing the job before announcing the election schedule in October
As per EC's electoral roadmap announced July 15 last year, the laws on political parties' registration were supposed to be ready by February this year and the registration process was supposed to be completed by June.
But the laws are not yet ready. The EC will send the electoral reform proposals to the government next Sunday and expects that the laws will be ready by the end of this month.
"So, the timeframe for political parties' registration will be extended by three or four months so that the parties can complete their preparations to be registered," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters yesterday at hisoffice.
"We may even extend the timeframe until the announcement of the election schedule in October." hesaid.
Asked if the EC would ask the government again to lift restrictions on politics, Sakhawat said the commission would ask the government to create an environment conducive to carrying out the activities required for the parties to be registered withit.
On growing doubts over holding of the parliamentary election as per the roadmap, he said the EC has been working to hold the stalled ninth parliamentary election by the end of (his year as per the set deadline.
"We will announce the election schedule in October once the voter list is ready by then. We do not have any alternative to holding the polls within the timeframe." he said.
About the progress of voter listing, the election commissioner said a total of 5.63 crore voters have been enrolled as of May 5 and the field Ievel task of voter listing will be completed in June.
"The final voter list will be ready by October after correction of the draft lists,” he added.
When his attention was drawn to BNP acting Chairman Saifur Rahman's remark on Wednesday that his leadership became ineffec ■ live as the party's standing committee members who appointed him to the post withdrew their support through affidavit. Sakhawat refused to make any comment on it.
Five standing committee members in a letter asked the EC to invite Khandaker Delwar Hossain, BNP secretary general appointed by the party's detained chairperson, to the electoral reform talks.
But. the EC ignored the affidavit and invited the Sai fur - led faction of BNP to itselectoral reform talkslast month.