Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Saturday said the schedule for the country’s next general election will be declared in the second week of December.
“Hopefully, what we expect is that it will be declared in the second week of December. When the schedule is announced, you will know the dates: voting date, nomination deadline, and the last date for withdrawal of candidacy,” the CEC told reporters after inspecting a mock voting exercise in Dhaka.
The Election Commission held the mock voting from 8am–12pm for both the national election and a national referendum, expected to be held simultaneously in early February 2026.
Nasir Uddin said the exercise was conducted to determine “what kind of environment is needed inside a polling station to deliver a fair, acceptable and participatory election we have promised the nation.” He said the EC observed everything from queue management to the roles of polling officers and journalists.
Formed only a year ago, the current commission has no prior experience of holding any local or national polls. It also faces the added responsibility of conducting a referendum, introduced after the 2024 student-led uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government.