The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has said conducting elections in
300 constituencies in a single day with the regular law-enforcing
agencies is not possible.
Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said no national election in Bangladesh had ever
been held without army deployment.
He said the Election Commission (EC) will would decide about where and
how to deploy the troops in its law-and-order meeting after the
announcement of polls schedule.
EC officials said the army could be engaged in election duty for five
days before and after the polls.
“No national election in Bangladesh has been held without army’s
assistance since 1973,” Ahmad said on Wednesday, explaining the EC’s
position.
“It is not possible to conduct polls in 300 constituencies in one day
with the police, BGB, RAB and Ansars,” he said.
This is why, he said, the EC had deployed army in each general election.
“Moreover, this time the numbers of voters and polling centres have
increased,” said the CEC.
He said assistance from the armed forces would be sought at “the right
time following the procedures of the Constitution and the
Representation of the People Order.
Ahmad said the EC did not seek army deployment in previously conducted
civic polls considering the situation.
The Constitution stipulates organising the 10th parliamentary
elections by Jan 24, 2014.
The EC has said it will announce polls schedule in ‘due time’.
On Monday, Election Commissioner Md Shah Nawaz had said all
law-enforcing agencies would be deployed during the polls in
accordance with the RPO.
“[We] will also apply to the President for army deployment this time
too to ensure free and fair polls,” he had said.
His remarks came at a time when the two major political parties are at
loggerheads over the form of the polls-time dispensation.
He, however, had not made it ‘clear’ whether troops would be deployed
before or after the polls schedule.
EC officials said over 500,000 security personnel were needed to
maintain order at the 300 constituencies across Bangladesh.
At least 50,000 armed forces personnel were deployed during the ninth
general election in 2008.
One EC official said there was no provision in the RPO before 2001 for
army deployment during the elections.
However, troops were deployed at district, thana, Upazila levels to
maintain order during each parliamentary polls since 1973.
According to the EC officials, army is usually deployed for five days
in electoral areas during national elections.
During erstwhile military and caretaker government regimes, though the
army was on the ground for a prolonged period, it was engaged in
polls-related duties only for five to seven days.
Personnel of the law-enforcing agencies are generally deployed for
five days during parliamentary elections and for four days during
by-elections and local elections in the polls-bound areas.
EC’s Deputy Secretary Mihir Sarwar Morshed said, after reinstatement
of parliamentary democracy, army was deployed for five days during the
fifth national elections.
Besides, during the 1996, 2001 and 2008 parliamentary elections army
was in the field for five to seven days.
Amidst the surcharged political atmosphere ahead of the elections on
Feb 15, 1996, army was engaged in maintaining law and order for over
two weeks since the electioneering.
In 2006, for the scheduled Jan 22 election, which was eventually
abandoned, army was deployed from Jan 9.
The EC officials said it would be decided in the EC’s law-and-order
meeting, based on the intelligence report, for how long and in which
areas the army would be deployed.-bdnews24.com
