Ahead of the impending 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) polls, the Election Commission is planning to station armed forces across the nation, authorities announced today.
“The election commission (EC) wants us (armed forces) to be deployed to stage a free and fair election in a healthy atmosphere. We ensured them of all out support,” armed forces division’s principal staff officer Lieutenant General Wakar-uz-Zaman told a media briefing.
The declaration was made during a meeting at the commission headquarters between Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal and other commissioners and concerned civil and military officials.
Beginning on December 29 and lasting for 13 days, Zaman declared that the army will be stationed all throughout the nation “in aid of civil power” and that “we will extend our support to the commission the way it wants”.
Declaring that the military’s deployment was “not a new phenomenon” because it had been used for previous general elections, he described the “today’s discussion” as just the commission’s first meeting.
Election commission secretary Jahangir Alam stated at the briefing that while the home ministry’s recommendations were followed in asking for military support, the EC had not yet developed a detailed work plan for the military engagement.
As the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, he stated, the EC would now need President Mohammad Shahabuddin’s consent before deploying the armed forces.
When asked how many members of the armed forces would be on poll duty, Zaman responded that more than 35,000 army soldiers had been assigned to the 11th JS elections, and that additional troops would be assigned as needed.
On November 15, the EC released the schedule for the polls.
