The Election Commission (EC) on Monday finalised its decision on the deployment of the Bangladesh Army during the period of the upcoming national polls from 29 December to 10 January to maintain law and order in the country, said EC officials.
The EC official said although the Army personnel will remain on duty as the striking forces, they would not be given the magistracy power. An executive magistrate will accompany each of the Army teams.
In this regard, the EC sent a letter to the Armed Forces Division’s (AFD) Principal Staff Officer (PSO) on Monday seeking full cooperation to the EC for holding the election free and fair.
The letter, signed by EC Deputy Secretary Md Atiyar Rahman, states that the 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election will be held on January 7, 2024, and the commission has taken all possible legal and administrative measures to conduct elections in a free, fair, impartial and peaceful manner.
"All preparations have been made to maintain the law and order situation during the elections," it reads.
The commission has further decided to ensure a peaceful and controlled environment in the country prior to voting, on the polling day and after the voting in all 300 constituencies with assistance from the 'In Aid to the Civil Power.
"For this purpose, a small team of armed forces can be sent to each district for collecting preliminary information on the communicatio
system, physical infrastructure and electoral environment of the constituencies a few days before the elections," reads the statement.
Members of the armed forces will be stationed at convenient locations of each district, upazila, or city in coordination with returning officers and executive magistrates.
Detailed instructions will be issued in this regard later, said the EC.
Earlier on 17 December, President Mohammed Shahabuddin approved the deployment of the Bangladesh Army to bolster security and uphold law and order during the JS polls.
"The president has approved the deployment of the Bangladesh Army during elections. However, the timeline for deployment will be determined based on discussions and the prevailing circumstances," Election Commission (EC) Secretary Md Jahangir Alam confirmed the matter after visiting Bangabhaban.
Alongside the deployment of the Army personnel, the EC has also decided to engage a total of 7.5 lakh members from different law-enforcement and security agencies. Of them, 1,82,091 will be deployed from the Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), 46,876 from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), 5,16,000 from the Ansar and VDP, and 2,350 from the Coast Guard.
Moreover, Judicial Enquiry committees and mobile courts are also active in the field.
According to the EC official sources, the number of total polling centres is 42,103 and total voters are 11,96,81,633. Among the total voters, 6,07,71,000 are male, 5,89,19,202 are female and 825 are masculine gendre.
Besides, a total of 9,09,529 officials and employees are going to be engaged in the polls duties. Of them 4,06,364 are presiding officers, 2,87,722 assistant presiding officers and 5,75,443 polling officers.
