The meeting scheduled at 3pm will also be the first one of the EC after a more than five-month blank since August 6.

Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz, who joins the office today after an 11-day absence, will chair the meet. With support of the hastily recruited new EC members, the meeting with a majority is likely to justify the ongoing work of preparing a fresh voter list.

The meeting with the HC directive high on its agenda comes only two days after one of the new commissioners, Justice Mahfuzur Rahman, termed the directive contradictory and unlawful.

Observing the situation, many expressed the fear that the meeting is likely to further stoke up the intra-EC crisis, as the five members of it are sharply divided on the issue.

Election commissioners M Munsef Ali and AK Mohammad Ali, who have all along been speaking for revising the existing roll, yesterday reiterated that they will propose are argue in the EC meeting to implement the HC directive to revise the existing electoral roll.

In a file sent by the EC Secretariat Monday seeking their instructions about the next course of action in light of the HC directive, they had asked for a halt of all on-going activities for a fresh voter roll.

On the other hand, the two new election commissioners Justice Mahfuz and SM Zakaria on the very first day in office demonstrated a clear bias to the CEC by avoiding the customary courtesy calls on Munsef and Mohammad.

Mahfuz yesterday declined to talk to the press. He said, "I have already said what I had to say."

"If the High Court had issued a rule and if that rule became absolute then it could be called a directive," he argued on Tuesday, adding, only then it would become mandatory for the EC to comply with it.

Zakaria, who on Tuesday became more offensive and slurred Munsef and Mohammad, did not make any comment on the ongoing fresh voter listing and the implementation of HC directives. Zakaria, who had been EC Secretary until January 15, directed the field-level staffs to continue working to prepare a new voter list as per the CEC's decision and ignoring the HC directive.

However, he yesterday refused to say whether the task that began on January 1 is still going on. "I will not say anything about it, as the matter is related to the High Court's directive," Zakaria said, adding, "The meeting will discuss the issues."

CEC Aziz, who from the very beginning had no accord with Munsef and Mohammad, and had been alone until Monday, has now gained a one-member majority in the EC with the new two colleagues.

The CEC had verbally requested the government to appoint two new election commissioners to strengthen his hand in the EC. When he received a positive response from the government, he asked the EC Secretariat on Sunday afternoon to send a file to the election commissioners seeking their opinion on the voter roll issue.

In the file, Munsef and Mohammad on Monday wrote notes wanting an immediate meeting of the EC. The CEC finally convened the meeting yesterday, though the HC in its January 4 directive had asked him to hold it immediately.

Election commissioners Munsef and Mohammad told reporters they were yet to know about the meeting.

It was Zakaria who told the press that CEC Aziz called the meeting.

Two EC Secretariat officials later informed the press that they served the meeting notice to the election commissioners yesterday afternoon.

CHRONOLOGY OF HC ORDER TO EC MEET
Disposing off two writ petitions, the HC on January 4 asked the EC to revise the existing electoral roll and hold a meeting immediately.

But the EC Secretariat under the directives of the CEC continued the activities for preparing a fresh voter list on the excuse that it did not receive any certified copy of the HC directive.

The Supreme Court registrar's office sent the certified copy of the judgement to the EC on January 8. The CEC then fell sick and has remained absent from the office until today.

Election commissioners Munsef and Mohammad on January 9 made a phone call to the CEC's residence, trying to reach him and to hold an emergency meeting. But CEC Aziz did not talk with them.

On January 15 in the morning, the two commissioners made another attempt to contact him over telephone but failed again.

That day in the afternoon Aziz directed the EC Secretariat to forward the file seeking election commissioners' opinions. They received the file in the morning of January 16, the day the president appointed Mahfuz and Zakaria as new election commissioners.

In the file sent to the CEC on Monday afternoon with the opinion of Munsef and Mohammad, the CEC yesterday decided to hold the EC meeting today and sent the file back to the EC Secretariat.

The new election commissioners and the senior two will meet each-other today at the EC meeting for the first time after the appointments.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE EC CRISIS
Assuming office on May 23 last year, CEC Justice MA Aziz initiated a move for preparing a voter list. The EC held a series of dialogues with the political parties, seeking their opinion on the voter list in July.

After the dialogue, the commission sat on August 5 where the CEC and the two election commissioners expressed opinions in favour of preparing a voter list for the next parliamentary election and decided to discuss the issue next day.

But the CEC did not convene any meeting on August 6. Instead, he forwarded a file to the election commissioners in which he wrote that the voter list will be prepared afresh. The two commissioners on the other hand gave opinion for revising the current list.

In line with the CEC's note, the EC Secretariat took preparations for making a fresh electoral roll, ignoring the objections of Munsef and Mohammad. The EC Secretariat recruited about three lakh people for the task that began on January 1.

Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil and two lawmakers filed two writ petition with the HC challenging the legality of preparing a fresh voter list by an unilateral decision of the CEC.

On January 4 the HC issued the directive.