The Election Commission (EC) will publish the draft of the demarcation of 300 constituencies next week ahead of the next general election, keeping the current boundaries intact.

Election Commission (EC) Secretary Jahangir Alam came up with the information after a meeting held at the EC secretariat on Tuesday with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Habibul Awal in the chair.

Stating that they have already received 20-25 objections, the EC secretary said the final delimitation of parliamentary seats will be announced in light of the rules after settling all the applications received within the specified period.

When asked whether there will be any change in the boundaries of the parliamentary seats before the next election,  he said the issue will depend on the number of objections they receive. “We’ll publish the draft first.”         “We’ll be able to say what actually happens after settling the objections,” Jahangir said.

 This was the first meeting of the current EC on the demarcation of constituencies. The CEC, other election commissioners and EC officials were also present at the meeting.

According to the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, boundaries of Jatiya Sangsad constituencies should be redrawn based on the distribution of population as given in the latest census report, keeping in mind intact administrative units and administrative convenience.

The commission will have to publish a preliminary list of redrawn constituencies and the voters will get the chance to file appeals against the EC’s decision. The EC will be able to finalise demarcation only after settling the objections.

The then commission, headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, redrew the boundaries of 87 constituencies in 2013 ahead of the 10th parliamentary elections. That was also the first demarcation after the 2011 census.