The Election Commission (EC) will begin its dialogue with political parties and stakeholders from November 13, said EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
‘The main purpose of the dialogue is to discuss the changes brought to Representation of the People Order (RPO), electoral code of conduct for political parties and candidates and to seek cooperation for ensuring a free and fair election,” he told journalists at Nirbachan Bhaban here.
He further said, “We plan to start the dialogue on November 13. However, it has not yet been finalized which parties will be invited. The decision will be made after further discussion.”
Akhtar Ahmed added that the gazette of the revised code of conduct for political parties and candidates was published last night, following which preparations for the dialogue began.
“Without the code of conduct, the dialogue would not have been meaningful. Now that it’s published, we will start the dialogue from November 13,” he said.
“We will hold discussions with registered political parties. We are hopeful that the parties will respond positively to our invitation and take part in the dialogue. The media will be informed in due course about which parties are invited,” he said.
The Election Commission has already held a series of meetings with media professionals, election experts, women leaders, educationists, and civil society representatives.
According to EC sources, the opinions and suggestions collected from these meetings played a significant role in finalizing the electoral code of conduct.
