Dhaka, June 3 -- Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami wants the country to hold its next general election by April of next year.

However, the party has also come out in favour of holding local government polls first, before the national parliamentary election.

According to party chief Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, if local government elections are held first, it will ease the suffering of the people while also demonstrating the transparency and impartiality of the Election Commission.

He expressed the stance at a "Meet the Press" event organised at a hotel in Dhaka's Banani on Tuesday to express the party's position on the verdict that cleared the way to Jamaat's party registration.

Regarding reforms, Shafiqur said: "If certain things are not in place...