TDS Desk:

BNP on Thursday expressed happiness over the Election Commission’s (EC) newly announced roadmap for the upcoming 13th parliamentary election, seeing it as a positive and hopeful step.

“The roadmap (for the national election) has been announced. It gives us an impression that the Election Commission has taken preparations to hold the election by February,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Talking to reporters about the EC’s roadmap, he said, “The main point is — we are happy.”

Asked whether the roadmap announcement is good news for the people, Fakhrul simply replied, “Yes.”

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission unveiled the detailed electoral action plan, setting timelines to complete all necessary measures to arrange the 13th parliamentary election before Ramadan in February 2026.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed presented the action plan at a press conference at Nirbachan Bhaban in the afternoon.

The roadmap includes various activities such as political dialogues, meetings with stakeholders, training sessions, budget planning, ICT preparations, campaign strategies, inter-ministerial coordination, and forming implementation and monitoring cells. Particularly, the dialogue with political parties and stakeholders is scheduled for the last week of September.

It’s good news: Khosru

Meanwhile, BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury also welcomed the move at an event in Banani, saying the election roadmap is indeed “good news.”

“I’ve just received a text about the roadmap… I’ve seen it, and I’m sharing it with you — this is good news,” he said while speaking at a discussion held at a city hotel.

Khosru said people in the country are now becoming more focused on the election and hopeful about having an elected government.

“People are waiting for an election that will lead to an elected government and parliament, which will be accountable and answerable to the public,” he said.

The BNP leader said people had not been able to make proper decisions because there was no elected government. “But I can now feel that they are starting to make their decisions.”

He hoped that there would be a major turnaround in the country’s economy after the election, and that the economy would recover. “We’ll have strong skill development, and the country will move forward.”