Govt urges all to avoid unauthorised gatherings, demonstrations after polls schedule is announced
The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the 13th national election -- which is planned for the first half of February -- tomorrow (10 December) evening or the day after (11 December).
The interim government today (9 December) urged all to refrain from all types of illegal and unauthorised public gatherings and demonstrations after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming 13th national election.
A statement shared on the Chief Adviser GOB Facebook page this evening said the call was made from a meeting of the home ministry held this afternoon following the instruction of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the 13th national election -- which is planned for the first half of February -- tomorrow (10 December) evening or the day after (11 December).
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"The prime goal of the interim government is to ensure that the 13th national election is held in a free, fair, impartial, acceptable and festive manner in the first half of February next," said the statement.
Noting that the government is focusing on whatever needs to be done to organise a fair election, it said that after the announcement of the schedule, all forces engaged in maintaining law and order in the country, including the armed forces, will work to ensure a smooth election environment.
Nearly nine lakh members from different forces, including the armed forces, will be deployed to maintain law and order in the country, which is the highest ever, read the statement.
It added that a record number of 1.5 lakh police members have already been given electoral training to conduct fair elections.
From the announcement of the schedule until the elections, any kind of illegal and unauthorised public gatherings and demonstrations that cause public suffering will be strictly controlled.
Those who will participate in meetings and gatherings illegally will be brought under the law, read the statement.
After today's meeting, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, "We know that many people have legitimate demands. In the past one and a half years, more than 2,000 protest programmes took place and demands were placed before the interim government."
The government has always responded to legitimate demands and tried to reach a solution through discussions with the protesters, he added.
"But now we are in an election period. Therefore, the interim government is calling upon everyone to present whatever demands they have to the post-election government," Jahangir said. "We hope that during this time, no one will create tension or disrupt the normal atmosphere with their demands," he added.
