The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami proposed that a national referendum be held in November ahead of the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections.
The party made the call on Tuesday while submitting 18-point proposals to the Election Commission.
A seven-member Jamaat delegation, led by secretary general Mia Golam Parwar, met chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the commission鈥檚 Agargaon office to present the proposals.
Parwar told reporters that the public should have a chance to review the reforms proposed in the July National Charter before voting in the general elections.
鈥楶eople must understand the reforms before they vote 鈥榶es鈥� or 鈥榥o鈥�,鈥� he said, adding that November would be the best time for such a referendum.
Parwar cautioned that holding a referendum on the same day as the general election would deny voters an essential amount of time to understand the reforms and could increase the risk of violence at polling stations.
Besides calling for a separate referendum, Jamaat recommendations seek wide-ranging measures to strengthen impartiality and security in the electoral process.
The party urged that the appointment of returning and assistant returning officers should be drawn not only from the administration but also, where possible, from the EC鈥檚 own ranks in order to ensure neutrality, integrity, and experience.
It asked that administrative appointments at the field level should be made by lottery to avoid politicisation, adding that officials with links to disputed past elections be barred from polls duties.
The security provisions proposed include the deployment of adequate military personnel at every polling station and ensuring a visible presence of law-enforcement agencies, including the military, the Border Guard Bangladesh, and the Rapid Action Battalion, at least a week before polling.
The Jamaat also called for installing CCTV cameras in all booths, nationwide drives to recover illegal firearms, and revoking partisan firearms licences issued during the previous 鈥榝ascist鈥� administrations.
To ensure a level-playing field for all the political parties, the party demanded equal access and facilities for all contesting political parties and the timely supply of clear voter photographs in polling lists to assist polling agents.
It recommended that the polling and presiding officers and the polling assistants and law-enforcement personnel should be allowed to cast postal ballots, adding that the voting procedures for the expatriate voters should be simplified by accepting either a voter identity card or a passport.
The Jamaat also urged careful vetting of election observers鈥� political affiliations and reconsideration of risky or irregular polling-place changes following complaints.
