Chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has confirmed that the government has sent a letter to the Election Commission requesting that the Jatiya Sangsad elections and a referendum be held on the same day.
He revealed the information on Saturday during an election-oriented workshop organised by the Asian Network for Free Elections in Gulshan, Dhaka.
The CEC described the referendum as an additional challenge for the Election Commission, commenting that the previous commissions did not have to handle such simultaneous tasks.
He explained that the EC must now 鈥榖undle together鈥� the preparations for both the JS polls and the referendum on the same day, which聽 would require significant additional work to be done.
Election Commission senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed at the same event said that the commission had received a letter from the government on Thursday instructing it to organise a referendum along with the polls.
The letter further specified that the referendum and the JS elections would be held on the same day, he said.
The commission secretary, however, pointed out that the relevant law governing the referendum had not yet been enacted.
The commission, he added, can only complete the remaining necessary preparations once the referendum law is enacted.
Earlier, on November 13, the interim government issued The July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025 with the provision for holding the national election and the referendum on the July Charter on the same day.
The CEC in his speech on Saturday said that the preparations for the referendum would involve numerous extra activities, including the logistics of printing ballot papers.
Once the law governing the referendum is passed, the EC will also have to determine who will count the votes, when the counting will take place, and potentially ballot papers of different colours would be used, he said.
The CEC said that he had discussed the matter with the government, urging it to enact the law within two or three days and had been assured that it could be passed possibly by next week.
The CEC reaffirmed the commission鈥檚 commitment to its duty, saying, 鈥榃e have to deliver. There is no option for us.鈥�
Nasir Uddin said that the referendum had already been mentioned in a constitutional order, but the details remained unclear because the relevant legislation had not yet been enacted.
He explained that until the law was passed, it was difficult for the commission to finalise the procedures or confirm the exact language for the referendum questions.
He also said that adopting a process based on assumptions could create problems if the final legal provisions differed from the assumptions.
According to the CEC, the authorities were awaiting the ordinance, which was expected to facilitate the commission鈥檚 work.
He further said that, according to media reports, the referendum would involve four questions, each requiring a 鈥榊es鈥� or 鈥楴o鈥� response.
While the referendum had been formally introduced through an order, the CEC said that the EC secretariat would need the specific law to determine the precise language and procedural details necessary to conduct the vote effectively.
Bangladesh experienced a mass uprising in July and August, 2024, leaving the law and order situation volatile, the CEC noted.
He said that the situation the commission inherited in November 2024 had been much worse, and although it had since improved substantially, it was not yet proper for a fair election, the rule of law remained essential.
Nasir Uddin said that it was also necessary to take into account the political and socio-cultural realities, noting that the current political culture was not very smooth, adding that these factors presented additional challenges.
He hoped that by the time of the election, everything would fall into place, as he expected politicians to be responsible, sensible, and cooperative, adding that they would work together to ensure a free and credible election.
