According to sources the EC is also planning to increase the ceiling on a candidate's election expenditure to Tk 10 lakh from the previous ceiling of Tk 5 lakh.

In addition, it is mulling over introduction of tougher punishment including imprisonment for six months and fine of Tk 50,000 for irregularities in electoral campaigns, and reintroduction of the EC's power to cancel candidatures, the sources said.

Directed by the EC, officials of its secretariat started preparing a draft of the proposals, but the commission has yet to decide when it will submit the reform proposals to the government, as it is seemingly buckling under the burden of the task of updating the voter list, the sources added.

"We don't know when the Election Commission will send the proposals to the government," a senior EC official told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.

However, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) MA Aziz on several occasions told reporters that the EC will send a set of proposals to the government in due time.

Although the CEC declared his intention of sending a proposal to the government seeking the EC Secretariat's independence from the control of the Prime Minister's Office, it is not clear yet whether the proposal will be incorporated in the draft or not, sources said.

The EC could not make the provision of registration of political parties mandatory before the last parliamentary election in 2001 in the face of severe opposition mainly from Awami League (AL) and BNP with an excuse of time constraint.

The major political parties during the dialogue arranged by the EC to discuss the reform proposals before the last election suggested not to introduce hurriedly the system of registration of political parties.

HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party and 34 other political parities, which exist only on papers, applied for registration with the EC, while AL, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami did not show interest in registering.

The EC did not provide any political party with the certificate of registration as the major parties ignored the law which was optional anyway, the sources said.

None of the political parties that contested in the last parliamentary election had submitted their expenditure reports to the EC, ignoring the mandatory legal provision.

The EC however in the last five years has taken no step against the political parties for violating the law regarding submission of political parties' election expenditures but suddenly with the upcoming parliamentary election around the corner it is planning reforms. Officials of the EC Secretariat expressed their doubts about the success of the move due to time constraint.

"The Election Commission should have initiated the move long before as it is a very difficult process. To bring any reform in the electoral laws, the commission will have to seek opinion from major political parties," a senior EC official told The Daily Star wishing anonymity.

Some senior officials of the EC Secretariat however said the reforms might be brought during the regime of the caretaker government as it was done during the previous caretaker regime in 2001.

Since his appointment in May last year, CEC MA Aziz on several occasions declared that he would send a set of proposals regarding electoral reform to the government, but he has yet to keep his promise.

Now the officials at the EC Secretariat have been directed to prepare a set of draft proposals for electoral reform.

The EC wants to have the power again to cancel candidatures for gross irregularities. Before the last parliamentary election the EC had been provided with the power, but in the face of opposition from the major political parties it was later revoked.

About the punishment for irregularities during the election period, the existing laws have a provision of fine of Tk 20,000. The EC is now planning to introduce stiffer punishment including six months imprisonment and TK 50,000 fine for gross irregularities, sources said.