The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has urged the Election Commission (EC) to break with longstanding practice and appoint its own officials as returning officers and assistant returning officers for the upcoming 13th parliamentary election.

The proposal was formally placed on Wednesday during a dialogue between the EC and several political parties at the commission headquarters in Dhaka.

The EC has been holding consultations with political parties as part of its preparations for the national polls. On Wednesday afternoon, the commission met with representatives from the BNP, Nagorik Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad, the Marxist BSD, and the Republican Party. The BNP delegation, led by standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan, included four senior party members.

During the meeting, Abdul Moyeen Khan argued that delegating these key electoral responsibilities to civil administration officials leaves the process vulnerable to political influence. Traditionally, deputy commissioners of all 64 districts — along with the divisional commissioners of Dhaka and Chattogram — serve as returning officers, while upazila nirbahi officers and, in some cases, EC officials act as assistant returning officers.

Political parties have repeatedly questioned this arrangement in previous election cycles, and demands for EC-led supervision have resurfaced ahead of this year’s vote.

Moyeen Khan told the commission that while the EC lacks the vast manpower required to staff an election, it should nonetheless deploy its available personnel strategically. Bangladesh’s parliamentary election, he noted, requires “several hundred thousand” election officials.

“The Election Commission borrows returning officers and assistant returning officers from the government for all 300 constituencies,” he said. “But the EC does have its own cadre of officers, and their maximum use is essential.”

He urged the commissioners to “take a bold decision” and directly assign EC officials to manage polling operations. “If returning officers come from your Election Commission, and assistant returning officers are your dedicated staff, a qualitative change will emerge in Bangladesh’s political culture,” he said.

He argued that such a shift would strengthen the EC’s independence and public trust in the electoral process.

The BNP leader appealed to the EC to assert its constitutional authority and resist pressure from the government. He pledged full cooperation from his party but cautioned that no election could be considered neutral if the commission remained “subordinate” to the administration.

The EC has not yet indicated whether it will consider altering the returning officer structure for the upcoming election. However, the BNP’s proposal adds new urgency to the broader debate over the commission’s autonomy, as political parties continue to press for reforms ahead of the polls.

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