Army, navy, air force chiefs to meet CEC Nasir tomorrow

The chiefs of three services – Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force – will meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin tomorrow (21 December) regarding the overall law and order situation ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election and the referendum.

The meeting will take place at 2:30pm at the conference room of the EC Secretariat in Agargaon, confirmed Md Ruhul Amin Mollik, director (public relations and information) of the EC Secretariat today (20 December).

CEC AMM Nasir Uddin will preside over the meeting, which will be attended by other election commissioners as well as senior civil and military officials.

Earlier in the day, at 12pm, the chiefs of the army, navy and air force will also pay a courtesy call on the Election Commission, he added.

According to a letter signed by EC Deputy Secretary Md Manir Hossain on Thursday (18 December), the meeting will discuss the prevailing security situation in the pre-election period, strategies to maintain law and order during and after polling day, recovery of illegal arms, suppression of criminal activities, and a coordinated operational plan involving joint forces.

The meeting will also review the implementation of the "Code of Conduct 2025" formulated for candidates and political parties.

The army, navy and air force chiefs, principal secretary to the chief adviser, senior secretary of the ministry of home affairs, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, inspector general of police (IGP), and heads of intelligence and law enforcement agencies – including National Security Intelligence (NSI), Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh Coast Guard, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP – as well as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, have been requested to attend.

The EC said that, as part of election security arrangements, around 43,000 polling centres and approximately 260,000 polling booths will be set up across the country's 300 constituencies.

According to preliminary planning, between 13 and 18 members of law enforcement agencies will be deployed at each polling centre.

More than 700,000 law enforcement personnel will be engaged in election duties, including around 550,000 members of Ansar and VDP and over 90,000 members of the armed forces.

Police, RAB, BGB and the coast guard will also be deployed to ensure security.

Earlier on 11 December, the Chief Election Commissioner announced the schedule to arrange the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order simultaneously on 12  February next.

According to the election schedule, the deadline for the submission of nomination papers is 29 December, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is 20 January. The election campaign will start on January 22 and continue till 48 hours before the balloting period (7:30am on 10 February).