A day after Election Commissioner Mohammad Shah Newaz’s disclosure that the Election Commission (EC) would announce the schedule for the next general elections by Monday, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed on Sunday said the EC is yet to finalise the date. However, the sources said sensing the possibility of a negotiation between the two major parties the EC has decided to delay the announcement of the schedule by one day.
The EC is likely to wait until Monday evening to see whether there is any consensus on the nature of the poll-time government, the sources said, adding if the main opposition BNP decides to join the elections, the EC might take some more time to announce the schedule. And if there is no consensus, the EC will declare the schedule on Monday night or on Tuesday, the sources said.
The CEC on Sunday said, “Like the people of the country we also want a compromise between the two major parties. So, should not we give them some time to reach consensus?”
The election schedule will be announced in time to hold the national polls but no decision in this regard has been taken yet, he said while talking to reporters at his office.
The CEC said the commission has enough time to announce the election schedule and the election will be held in accordance with the constitution in appropriate time.
Asked on the date of election schedule announcement, the CEC said, “The decision will be taken on Monday or later. I can’t make any comment on the matter right now.”
Meanwhile, the EC has begun its final preparations to hold the 10th parliamentary election, with steps such as gathering field-level information, including the status of upazila and district-level manpower, from the local administration in accordance with the Representation of the People Order (RPO).
Moreover, it has initiated the process to select seven lakh polling officers, who have to be appointed and trained ahead of the elections. Also, the EC needs to bring changes to the electoral code of conduct for the parliamentary polls, to ensure a level-playing field for all candidates.
The commission has asked deputy commissioners, regional election officers, and district election officers to select some 700,000 election officials to conduct the upcoming parliamentary polls. The EC has also asked them to send a primary list of election officials to the commission by November 25. Election commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz said that the commission will formally appoint the officials, after the announcement of the election schedule.
The EC has also sought the home ministry’s support to strengthen security arrangements, to ensure peace and security at all election offices across the country.
It has also sought security for election materials, particularly, during supply and transportation of ballot papers, ballot boxes and other materials related to the election process, authoritative sources told The Independent.
The EC secretariat, in a letter to the home ministry, sought this support in order to hold the upcoming parliamentary polls in a proper manner.
“Five-hundred transparent ballot boxes were gutted after a fire broke out at the Narayanganj district election office, at Fatullah, last week. Besides, a desktop computer, three laptops, a scanner, and two printers were damaged in the fire,” EC secretary Dr Muhammad Sadik told the independent on Sunday. Referring to the fire incident Election Commissioner Mohammad Shah Nawaz said, “The commission does not have any clear idea whether the Narayanganj incident was a sabotage or not, but we’ve asked the EC secretariat to chalk out plans to ensure safety and security first.”
To ensure the safety and security of officials and offices and of materials connected to the elections, the EC has sought support from the home ministry, said Muhammad Sadik. Based on reports of various government agencies, the EC secretariat is planning to gear up its security arrangements, he added.
According to him, all police stations and superintendents of police in every district have been asked to remain alert to ensure safety and security of election offices, officers, and electoral materials that are being transported.
Usually only one policeman is deployed at each election office for security.
According to sources at the EC secretariat, election officials feel insecure as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18-party alliance has announced that it will form an ‘all-party election prevention committee’ across the country.
“We are receiving hundreds of applications from officials every day. They want to be transferred from their present offices, or are expressing unwillingness to work on the election-day,” an EC official disclosed, on condition of anonymity. Hefazat-e-Islam, along with Jamaat-e-Islami and its students’ wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, can create serious anarchy and violence from the date of the announcement of the schedule, he said.
The EC wants to hold the polls on January 5, 9 or 16, and plans to announce the schedule within a day or two, sources at the EC secretariat informed. Local election officials fear that they may face serious problems in terms of their safety and security, after the schedule is announced, they said.
The sources also said that the EC is planning to request the deployment of the army as early as possible once the election schedule has been announced.
-With The Independent input
