Dhaka, Nov. 22 -- Bangladesh's interim government has formally asked the Election Commission (EC) to prepare for holding a national referendum on the same day as the upcoming 13th parliamentary election in February next year, prompting the Commission to acknowledge the scale of the task ahead.
The country's EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed on Thursday that the Commission had received a government letter instructing it to begin preparations.
"The government stated that holding a referendum falls under the EC's mandate. It has asked the Commission to arrange both the national election and the referendum on the same day," he said, reports domestic media.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin later elaborated on the cha...