President Shahabuddin Assures EC Full Support for 13th Polls, Referendum

President Md Shahabuddin met with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and other Election Commissioners at Bangabhaban today to discuss the preparations for the upcoming 13th national elections and referendum.

EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed briefed reporters afterward at Nirbachan Bhaban, stating that the President pledged "optimum support and cooperation" to the Election Commission (EC) to make the polls and referendum "free, fair and meaningful."

President Shahabuddin expressed satisfaction with the EC's progress and assured them of full support for a good, fair, and meaningful election. The CEC informed the President about updates on the voter list and the latest status of political party registration.

The President showed keen interest in the operational details, specifically asking how the EC plans to organize the election and the referendum on the same day.

He inquired about the preparation and color of the ballot papers. He asked about the logistics of providing ballots to voters. He wanted to know the estimated time a voter would take to cast their vote and the method of vote counting.

The President was also very interested in postal voting, asking detailed questions about its procedural structure and technical issues. The EC informed him that experts would be working on these issues, which reportedly pleased the President.

The EC Secretary also mentioned that the CEC's speech is scheduled to be recorded at 4 pm today, for which letters were sent to Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar. The EC team accompanying the CEC included Election Commissioners Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Begum Tahmida Ahmad, Md Anwarul Islam Sarker, Brigadier General (Retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah, and EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.