Dhaka, July 9 -- The Election Commission (EC) has started scrutinising applications for registering new political parties ahead of the 13th national parliamentary elections.

The committee on the matter has initially decided to give the parties 15 days to fix any minor errors or add any missing documents.

After that, the concerned officials will review the organisational structure of the parties that pass the initial screening and investigate whether the documents provided, including regarding central and field level offices, are correct and meet the constitutional body's conditions.

Ahead of the next elections, 147 applications have been submitted by 144 parties seeking registration. The application could be submitted between Mar 10 an...