The Cabinet did not approve the amendment proposed by the Election Commission regarding the power to cancel the entire election after publication of the gazette in the Representation of the People Amendment Act in case of irregularities in the election. A cabinet meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday at 11 am. It was presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
After the meeting in the afternoon, the Secretary of the Council of Ministers, Mahbub Hossain gave a briefing at the secretariat. There, he said, the Cabinet has given final approval to the draft of the ‘Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2023’, with the provision that the Election Commission can cancel the results of only those centers where there is an irregularity.
The Election Commission (EC) wants the power to cancel the election if necessary even after the announcement of the election results (Gazette). For this, the EC proposed to amend the Representation of the People Order (RPO) relating to national elections