The Election Commission is in a hurry at the last moment to approve the proposal on the amendment to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), EC officials said.

The EC will urgently sit on Aug 26, first working day after Eid-ul-Azha holiday, with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda in the chair to approve the proposed amendment.

To call the urgent meeting, the EC issued a notice on Aus 20 a day after Election Commissioner Kabita Khanam brought the amendment issue to the forefront of the media attention on Aug 19.

Speaking to Bangla Tribune, Khanam said, “The CEC has received the committee’s report (on amendment), which recommend for the inclusion of electronic voting machine.”

According to this commissioner, the EC still has enough time to amend the RPO.

“All decision depends on the Commission, whatever decision it takes will be implemented,” said Khanam, who is the head of EC’s law reform committee.

The EC officials, however, are confident that amendment to RPO is possible before the 11th parliamentary election, due by the end of this year.

As the parliament’s next session will begin after two weeks, so EC’s approval, law ministry’ vetting and cabinet’s approval on the amendment can be completed during this period.

If the government gives it consent it would not be a big deal to make the amendment to the RPO, according to the officials.

As of today, the RPO has been amended for 11 times since its formulation in 1972 with the last one in 2013.