"We will send the draft proposals to political parties towards the end of this month so that they can study those before participating in dialogue with us," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said.

Due to the ban, the EC could not proceed with its plan for talks with the parties on the proposed reforms for the last four months.

On July 15, the EC in its roadmap earmarked three months -- September to November-- for talks with political parties.

Talking to newsmen Sakahawat said, "We will start communicating with political parties in September to hold dialogue with them on electoral reforms. We are not concerned about the ban on indoor politics. It is a matter for the government whether it will lift the ban or not," told reporters yesterday.

Asked about field level task for simultaneously preparing the voter list with photographs and national identity cards, he said the EC is now waiting for a new law for voter listing.

"The commission will issue orders for starting the field level task in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area from the next day once the new law is made," Sakhawat said.

The EC however cancelled its earlier decision to formally inaugurate the task in the RCC area on August 5 as the chief adviser (CA), who was scheduled to do the job, is busy tackling the flood situation.

"The chief adviser will see the voter listing activities at a convenient time," the election commissioner said.

On holding talks with political parties, the EC had earlier said they would have to complete intra-party reforms before sitting for dialogue with it.

Asked whether political parties can complete intra-party reforms soon as they have suspended the process due to the flood, Sakhawat said the EC is not concern about their reforms. "We are concerned about our own proposals for electoral reforms," he added.

When pointed out that offices of the political parties have been locked because of the state of emergency, the election commissioner said in that case the proposals would be sent to their presidents and general secretaries.

The EC on April 5 announced a set of draft proposals for electoral reforms and said those would be finalised after consulting the political parties. Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda at a meeting with the law adviser on April 4 asked the government to lift the ban on indoor politics allowing the EC to hold talks with the parties on electoral reforms.

Since the reconstitution of the EC on February 4, headed by Huda, it started preparing proposals for electoral reforms.

VOTER LISTING
The EC's earlier plan to start field level task in RCC area on August 5 did not materialise due to the CA's preoccupation with handling the flood situation.

The two election commissioners---Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Sakhawat-- last week said the task would begin before August 10. But the EC again failed to keep this timeframe.

Sakhawat said yesterday the task in RCC area will be delayed by six to seven days. Field level election officials have completed preparations for this and they will start the job once the law is made.

On press reports about Islami Chhatra Shibir activists' move to fill up voter registration forms at Rajshai University, he said the local administration is probing this, and action will be taken following the investigation.

Field level task for voter listing will begin in Khulna City Corporation and eight municipalities in between August 20 to 21, he said.

Replying to a query, the election commissioner said field level task for voter listing in Dhaka City Corporation will start at the end of this year.

Asked about the time limit for purchase of equipment for voter listing to start field level task on a large scale, he said he cannot specify this now.

"The technical evaluation committee is yet to submit its report on awarding contract for supplying all sorts of equipment for voter listing ...We hope we will be able to start field level task on a large scale after the monsoon."

The EC is going to start shortly field level task in some areas using the equipment including laptops donated by different organisations.