The France chapter of the NCP Diaspora Alliance has called for the completion of expatriate voter registration before the announcement of the national election schedule. 

The demand came at a press conference held on Sunday (August 17) at a Paris hotel in France. Leaders of the chapter also stressed the need to ensure the voting rights of expatriates and the confidentiality of postal ballots.

During the event, a joint press statement signed by Tariq Adnan Moon, coordinator (operations) of the NCP Diaspora Alliance, and Chowdhury Mohammad Iftesham, convener of the France chapter, was presented. The statement was read out by Moon.

According to the statement, the Election Commission aims to bring 15 million expatriates under registration within just 21 days, although the online registration platform is still pending approval at the Planning Commission. The leaders said that no announcement has yet been made regarding what documents will be required for registration or when and where the process will begin.

They also warned that if the authorities attempt to cancel expatriate voting rights by citing registration complications, a movement similar to the "Remittance Shutdown" could be launched. The France chapter said that just as the remittance movement played a key role in the fall of autocracy, it could also play a decisive role in securing the voting rights of expatriates.

Speakers further demanded the publication of symbols and candidate lists online at least 40 days prior to polling in order to protect postal ballots from being invalidated.

The event was conducted by Monowar Patowary, joint convener of the NCP Diaspora Alliance France. Among others present were NCP’s Europe representative Omar Dhali, NCP Germany convener Shakhawat Hossain Turag, joint convener Farman Ullah, member secretary Shah Poran Shakil, chief organiser Mashruq Uddin, media and publicity coordinator Rabbi Raj, and regional organiser Ishtiaq Aqib.