Dhaka Bureau: The Army wants the Election Commission (EC) to work 13 days before and after the upcoming 12th National Assembly elections. The Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Department, Lt. Gen. Walker-uz-Zaman, said that preliminary discussions have been held in this regard.
After the meeting with the commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Monday (December 11) evening, he informed the journalists in a briefing held at the Election Commission (EC) media center.
Lt. General Waqar-uz- Zaman said that the Election Commission wants the army, wants the army to be deployed in the elections, and wants a fair and beautiful election. I have no doubt about it. The Election Commission is very serious about conducting a fair and acceptable election. They will make recommendations to the president. If the President decides, the army must be deployed. I will help in the way they ask for it.
He also said that the army was deployed in the previous election, and this time, if the president approves, the army will also be deployed. Armed forces will now be deployed under Aid to Civil Power.
When asked about the discussion about the deployment of the army for how long, Lieutenant General Waqar-uz-Zaman said that there have been rough discussions for a 13-day deployment from December 29 to January 10.
In response to the question of whether the army will be deployed as a striking force or not, he said that there has been no detailed discussion yet. More than 35,000 members of the armed forces were deployed in the last election. If there is more need in this election, more members will be deployed. The Army will be deployed as per the existing law, as it has been deployed in the past.
Secretary of the EC Secretariat in the briefing. Jahangir Alam said, ‘There has been an initial discussion on how Bangladesh Army and armed forces members can help in the 12th National Parliament Election. The Election Commission has asked for a plan on how the Armed Forces Department can provide overall support in the preliminary discussions.
In response to the question of how the army personnel will be deployed on the polling grounds, the EC Secretary said that this matter was not discussed in today’s meeting. We have had initial discussions. If the President agrees to deploy the army, we will prepare an action plan. It has been decided in principle to send a proposal to the President for army deployment.
Director General of the National Identity Card Registration Division (NID), AKM Humayun Kabir, and others were present on the occasion. Source: Bass
