How govt is preparing administration for election in February

Highlights:

• List of SPs prepared, posting will be done by lottery 
• No lottery for DC appointments
• Changes to come before election schedule
• Preparations made to post DCs and UNOs in all districts and upazilas

The government has begun reorganising the field administration ahead of the upcoming national elections. The focus is especially on four key posts – deputy commissioner (DC), upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), superintendent of police (SP), and officer-in-charge (OC) of police stations.

The ministries of public administration and home affairs have already started working on who will be assigned where. At the same time, training has been initiated for officials who will be deployed in the field during the elections. Police training will begin on 7 September.

Senior Secretary of the home affairs ministry Nasimul Gani held an online meeting with all divisional commissioners, DCs, SPs, and some UNOs across the country yesterday in preparation for the 13th national parliamentary election.

According to sources, the home secretary instructed all divisional commissioners, DCs, and SPs to maintain law and order across the country until the election. He urged them to take measures to prevent any kind of unrest arising either between political parties or among multiple potential candidates from the same party during election campaigning.

Direct discussions are to be held with potential candidates to ensure that their supporters stay away from clashes and disorder. Civil and police administrations have been asked to maintain proper coordination for this purpose.

Meanwhile, Senior Secretary of the public administration ministry Mokhlesur Rahman and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam held a meeting at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

It is learnt that the two top officials discussed how the civil administration and the police administration should coordinate at the district level. In many districts, SPs are senior to DCs, which often leads to a psychological conflict or a lack of coordination between the two. To avoid such situations, DCs and SPs will be given special instructions. Reportedly, DCs will make decisions after holding discussions with senior SPs.

After the meeting, Mokhlesur told journalists at his office, "Never in the civil service have postings been made through a lottery. They are not happening now, nor will they ever happen. We have a fit list, and new DCs are being appointed from there as required.

"More will be appointed in the coming days. Before the election, we will promote the joint secretaries who are currently in line for DC posts. In those cases, existing DCs will have to be replaced."

Earlier, the home adviser had announced that SPs and OCs would be appointed through lotteries ahead of the polls. SP postings will be decided through lotteries at the central level, while OC postings will be decided at the divisional level.

On 2 September, Bangladesh Police AIG (Media) AHM Shahadat Hossain told TBS that election-related training activities will begin on 7 September at Rajarbagh Police Lines. The aim of the training is to create master trainers who will later provide election training to police personnel of all ranks in different units.

According to sources at the Public Security Division of the home ministry, a list of SPs has already been prepared. Based on government instructions, they will be posted through the lottery before the elections.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the public administration ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that full preparations have been made for posting DCs in all districts and UNOs in all upazilas. The government can reshuffle all DCs and UNOs at any time if it wishes.

It has been learned that the ministry has already prepared a fit list for DC appointments. Officers from the 28th BCS batch will get priority, although some officers from the next two batches are also on the list.

The official said, "Preparations for the election-time administration are in place. However, the reshuffle will not happen immediately. Depending on the situation, changes will be made before the schedule is announced."

Currently, officers from the 24th, 25th, and 27th BCS batches are serving as DCs. Among them, all 24th BCS officers have already been promoted to joint secretary rank. The 25th BCS officers joined service during the BNP-led government (2001-06), while the 27th BCS officers joined during the caretaker government (2007-08).

Multiple sources in the public administration ministry confirmed that there is a policy decision to withdraw the 24th BCS officers and appoint new DCs. Changes may also take place in several other districts.

The four posts – DC, UNO, SP, and OC – play a decisive role in the entire election process. DCs act as returning officers, overseeing tasks such as candidate scrutiny, rejection of nominations, allocation of symbols, and conducting the overall election process. 

However, the Election Commission (EC) has not yet taken a final decision on whether DCs will continue to serve as returning officers in the upcoming polls.

According to Article 7 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972, the EC may appoint one or more returning officers for one or more constituencies to conduct parliamentary elections.

Although in some by-elections the EC's own officials have served as returning officers, in all national elections since 1972 the role has been filled by DCs.

Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus has announced that the national election will be held in early February. Following this, the EC has published the electoral roadmap. It has also announced that the election schedule will be declared in early December. 

After the schedule is announced, the entire administration comes under the jurisdiction of the EC, which then holds authority over transfers and postings. This is why both the home and public administration ministries are working to streamline the field administration before the schedule is announced.

In August, the public administration ministry reshuffled DCs in eight districts, assigning new responsibilities in five and transferring in three. Similarly, the home ministry appointed new SPs in seven districts.

Through divisional commissioner offices, UNOs, assistant commissioners (land), and other officials are also being reassigned.

4,000 ASIs being recruited

IGP Baharul Alam told reporters after a meeting with the secretary of the public administration ministry yesterday that 4,000 assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) are being recruited ahead of the national parliamentary elections.

He said half of the positions will be filled through direct recruitment and the other half through promotion.

The IGP said, "We came to the public administration ministry regarding the recruitment of ASIs. Some amendments to the regulations were needed, and they are making those changes. This has made the recruitment process easier for us. This recruitment is being done in the police force ahead of the national elections. The chief adviser has given his approval in principle."