Bangladesh Election Commission prepares draft of new electoral code of conduct

The Bangladesh Election Commission has prepared the draft of the electoral code of conduct, to ensure a level playing field for future elections. However, the draft was prepared without consultation with any political parties. The draft committee conducted a meeting in the EC building’s capital in Agargaon, after which the Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar spoke to the press, apprising them of the developments.

“We will sit with various stakeholders on this later. The situation will guide us on what needs to be done”, he said when asked whether political parties’ opinions were taken regarding the election code of conduct. The Election Commissioner added “The draft of the code of conduct is nearly finalised. Today’s meeting was held to prepare the draft. We had a previous meeting on this as well. Once the draft is finalised, we will place it before the commission. If the commission approves, it will be published”.

When asked about any significant changes made in the election code of conduct, EC Islam said “We have incorporated almost all the proposals of the Election Reform Commission into the draft“.

Refraining from sharing any more details due to the draft having not yet been finalised, he said that the new guidelines were aimed at keeping election spending to a minimum while allowing campaigns to be conducted in an orderly manner. “We want a code of conduct that reflects an attitude where all candidates can equally engage in campaigning, ensuring a level playing field“, he added.

The proposed draft also includes provisions to keep election campaigns on social media platforms under regulation. It will contain strict punitive measures to ensure adherence to the code of conduct. The current situation of elections in Bangladesh under Chief Advisor Mohammed Yunus’ interim government is uncertain, as he had said that the elections could take place by either late 2025, or early 2026, there has been no clear plan on the issue. The election issue and the lack of any plan has led to Yunus receiving a lot of backlashes from his political allies, such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami-Bangladesh.

Team Maverick