EC to appoint over 9 lakh polling officers for 12th JS election: secretary

Election Commission (EC) Secretary Md Jahangir Alam today said that the commission will recruit over nine lakh polling officers for the 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections to be held in late December this year or early January next year.

“Training will be imparted to these polling officials after announcing the election schedule,” he told at a press briefing after an EC meeting at the Nirbachan Bhaban here with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal in the chair.

Training schedule for the officials to perform duty in the 12th parliamentary polls and other elections has been approved at the meeting, the EC secretary said, adding that training programme will begin from the first week of September this year.

Decision regarding preparing the panel for the polling officers will be taken later, Jahangir added.

Noting that the EC wants to register expatriate Bangladeshis in the UK and Saudi Arabia as voters and provide them smart NID cards before the next national polls, he said the meeting discussed about the progress of the pilot project of issuing NID cards for Bangladeshi expatriates, which is going on in the United Arab Emirates.

The EC secretary said the meeting approved a draft law on remuneration and privileges of the CEC and other election commissioners, which will be sent to the law ministry for vetting.

He said the draft law is only the Bangla translation of the existing ‘The Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (Remuneration and Privileges) Ordinance-1983’ and no changes have been made in it.

The law will be placed in the parliament after its vetting, Jahangir said, adding that the CEC will enjoy remuneration and privileges like justices of the Appellate Division while other election commissioners will enjoy like justices of the High Court Division.

About submitting nomination papers by the aspirants, he said although there is a provision in the law to submit nomination papers online, it will not be mandatory.

“EC, however, will encourage candidates of the next general elections to file nomination papers online,” the EC secretary added.

He said that the meeting also decided to give entertainment allowance to those who will perform duties on field during any poll. (BSS)