Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs set to meet the CEC on Sunday

The chiefs of the Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force are scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Sunday.

The meeting will take place at 12:00pm at Nirbachan Bhaban, said Election Commission (EC) Director (PR) Ruhul Amin Mollik on Saturday.

As a result, the EC has rescheduled its previously planned meeting on law and order from 10:00am to 2:30pm.

Later in the afternoon, the EC will hold a meeting with senior officials of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to assess the overall law and order situation ahead of the national election and referendum, slated for 12 February 2026.

CEC Nasir Uddin will chair the law and order meeting at the Election Commission’s conference room in the city.

The meeting is expected to be attended by top representatives of the armed forces, the principal secretary, home affairs secretary, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, inspector general of police, and the directors general of Border Guard Bangladesh, Coast Guard, Ansar and VDP, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI), National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Additional IGPs from the Special Branch (SB) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID), as well as the inspector general of prisons, are also slated to join.

Key agenda items include a review of the pre-election law and order situation, joint forces’ operations to recover illegal arms and prevent acts of terrorism, compliance with the electoral code of conduct by candidates and political parties, and measures to ensure a conducive environment for the polls.

Four election commissioners will be present at the law and order meeting.

Meanwhile, the EC on Saturday amended the election schedule gazette, revising the timeframe for filing appeals against returning officers’ decisions on the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers during scrutiny.

Under the revised schedule, appeals may be filed from 5 to 9 January and will be disposed of between 10 and 18 January. Previously, appeals were to be submitted from 5 to 11 January and resolved between 12 and 18 January.

Earlier, on 11 December, the CEC announced the schedule for holding the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order simultaneously on 12 February.

According to the schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is 29 December, while candidates may withdraw their nominations by 20 January. Election campaigning will begin on 22 January and continue until 48 hours before polling, which ends at 7:30am on 10 February.