EC wants army deployment for next JS polls

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to take help from the Bangladesh Army in the 12th national elections, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said on Thursday.

"Apart from this, the commission has finalised a draft roadmap for the next parliamentary election," he said, talking to the media at his office in Nirbachon Bhaban in the city's Agargaon.

"The commission will send a proposal to the government for army deployment in the next general election to maintain law and order alongside other law enforcement," the election commissioner said.

He said, "During the national election, the military will remain deployed as a striking force in case an untoward situation emerges. They will patrol certain electoral areas and if required, they will help law enforcement to maintain poll-time law and order. "

Regarding the electoral roadmap, he said "A draft roadmap has been finalised. At present, it is now at the commission secretariat which will finalise the roadmap at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month."

"In the roadmap, there will be details about tasks to do for holding a fair election and how the commission will implement those tasks, what challenges we may face, and how will we address those challenges," he said.

Regarding taking four ministries under EC's control during the election, Md Alamgir said "Some political parties proposed this but we do not agree with that.  

"The ministries have day-to-day tasks to serve the people of the country. The casual suggestion given by those political parties is not viable to implement as there are some differences between the nature of our work and what they do," he added.

Referring to the constitution, he said "The EC, as per the constitution and Representation of People Order (RPO), can ask for cooperation from all institutions and ministries during elections, and they are bound to cooperate with the commission.

"It shall be the duty of all executive authorities to assist the Election Commission in the discharge of its functions. If they do not do so, penalties are mentioned in the constitution."

Regarding the BNP's apparent reluctance in joining the next election, he said "Arranging a participatory election is mandatory by law. Elections will be held regardless of whether any specific political party joins it or not."