EC approves amended drafts of code of conduct, polling centre policy

The Election Commission (EC) has approved the draft code of conduct for political parties and candidates, as well as the policy for setting up polling centres, ahead of Bangladesh’s parliamentary election.

The Commission said that certain components of the code of conduct depend on the interim government’s reforms. It will be finalised once the reforms are carried out.

The proposed code of conduct introduces several new elements, including EC’s supervision over campaigning methods, social media regulations, and a mandatory declaration from parties and candidates to abide by the code.

Meanwhile, under the new draft policy for polling centres, EC officials will take over the authority wielded by a committee of district administrators and superintendents of police. This is due to concerns over the previous committees’ biases and political leanings.

The decisions came during the EC’s fifth commission meeting on Wednesday, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.

The meeting approved three documents, related to code of conduct for political parties and candidates, the polling centre establishment and management policy for the national elections, and the policy over polling centres in local government elections.

Another significant change is the elimination of all provisions relating to electronic voting machines, as they are no longer in use.

Once approved by the EC, the new code and policies will await gazette publication. EC officials noted that the gazette will be published after the final reformation formalities are confirmed.