Originally posted in The Daily Star on 6 April 2026
The Election Commission (EC) is holding a meeting today to finalise the schedule for elections to the women’s reserved seats in the 13th National Parliament.
The meeting began after 11:00am at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka. Officials said the commission may announce the election schedule afterwards.
Ahead of the polls, the EC sent letters to political parties and independent lawmakers represented in parliament, asking whether they would contest jointly.
Parties were required to inform the commission within 30 working days of the gazette notification. The deadline expired on April 5, with all parties and independents submitting their positions before the cut-off.
Under the constitution, elections to women’s reserved seats must be held within 90 days of a parliamentary election. The 13th national election, along with a referendum, took place on February 12, with results published the next day.
According to the Jatiya Sangsad (Reserved Seats for Women) Election Act, 2004, the EC must complete the process within 90 days of the publication of final results in the government gazette. The law also requires the commission to announce a detailed schedule, including nomination, scrutiny, withdrawal, and voting dates.
The 50 reserved seats are allocated proportionately based on results from the 300 general seats.
As per this law, BNP is expected to receive 35.16 seats, rounded to 36; Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami may get 11.33 seats, or 12 in total; and independent candidates could secure 1.16 percent, equivalent to two seats (if they ally). The National Citizen Party is likely to receive one.
Smaller parties will not qualify unless they join alliances.
EC officials said several leaders, including Andaleeve Rahman Partho, Md Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki, and Md Nurul Haque Nur, are aligning with the BNP for seat distribution. Meanwhile, the National Citizen Party and Jamaat-e-Islami are forming a separate alliance, alongside another front of independent candidates.
However, independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana has informed the EC that she will not join any alliance.
The commission is also set to discuss multiple election-related issues during the meeting.
These include instructions for preserving materials used in the 13th national polls, preparations for the Bogura-6 by-election and the rescheduled Sherpur-3 vote on April 9, and briefings on key pre-election cases and post-poll petitions.
These include instructions for preserving materials used in the 13th national polls, preparations for the Bogura-6 by-election and the rescheduled Sherpur-3 vote on April 9, and briefings on key pre-election cases and post-poll petitions.
The EC will also review its policy on compensation for officials injured or killed while performing election duties.
In addition, officials will discuss the future of around 1.5 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) currently stored at the EC headquarters, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory, and 10 regional election offices.
