Staff Correspondent

The Election Commission has revived plans to reform Bangladesh`s electoral rules which were put on the back burner ahead of the 11th general elections.

Efforts were underway to revamp the Representation of the People Order, 1972 and the Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance 1976 last year.

However, the initiative stalled with the EC only amending the RPO to facilitate the use of electronic voting machines or EVMs at the polls amid opposition from one side of the political aisle.

But a year on, drafts of the amended RPO and Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance were once again placed before the commission for review on Thursday.

"The reforms are part of an ongoing process. The commission discussed both matters in the meeting. A committee headed by an election commissioner will delve deeper into these issues," said Election Commissioner Md Rafiqul Islam.

But nothing has been finalised yet, he added, while remaining coy about the specifics of the proposed reforms.

"There were proposals to review various aspects of the election law. It requires a lot more scrutiny. The draft of the Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance has been sent to the law ministry with a few observations. The EC`s committee on reforms will examine these."