Photo-collected.
Dhaka/

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to release the existing boundaries of 300 seats as a draft for redrawing the boundaries of the National Parliament. If anyone wants to change this boundary, there will be an opportunity to raise objections. The draft will be released next week. The boundaries of the parliamentary seats will be finalized after hearing the objections.

After the EC meeting on Tuesday, Commission Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam told reporters about this decision. Earlier, a commission meeting was held in the election building under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal.

Sources in the meeting said a draft proposal showing the constituency-wise population pattern was tabled in Tuesday’s meeting with the preliminary report of the census. But the commission did not accept it as it was a huge mistake. Earlier on Monday, however, the Bureau of Statistics contacted the EC and assured them of providing the necessary complete information by now. Because of this, there was no discussion on Tuesday’s draft proposal in the commission meeting.

It is known that the EC has decided not to formulate any related policies and rules before the boundaries of the parliamentary seats are finalised. However, under the new law, the EC has been empowered to make regulations. Before this, the current commission is going to follow the former CEC KM Nurul Huda Commission.

After the commission meeting at the election building on Tuesday, EC Secretary. Jahangir Alam told reporters that the draft will be released this month regarding the boundaries that existed during the last parliamentary elections. The notice will set a time limit for objecting to the claim. The objections received within the stipulated period will be taken into consideration. EC Secretary said that many people have already applied for their own initiative and said that about 20 to 25 applications have been received. The final seat boundaries will be announced in the light of the rules after hearing all the applications that are read within the specified period.

When asked whether there will be any change in the boundaries of the parliamentary seats before the next election, Jahangir Alam said that the issue will depend on the number of applications received, we will publish the draft first. After hearing the applications that will come within a certain period, the objections and the applications that have already been read, we will be able to say what actually happened.

In response to another question, the EC Secretary said that as the boundaries were decided in the previous period, we will publish the draft by following the same procedure in the 12th election, i.e. with the existing one. After that if anyone has any objection, all applications will be heard. After that, it will be finalized how many seat boundaries are being changed. When asked when the draft will be published, he said, it will be published soon. We will do this within the next week. So is the matter of fact and law. People should be informed first. Then, if they have any objections, it will be heard.

According to the Delimitation Act, delimitation should be based on the ‘actual distribution’ as far as possible of the population in the latest census report while maintaining geographical integrity. If attention is drawn to this, EC Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam said that the law that exists, first is geographical integrity, then territorial indivisibility, then administrative area, fourth is population density. Taking all these into consideration, if necessary, then the boundaries will be revised. If not, it won’t happen.