The expenditure for maintaining the law and order in the ensuing general elections scheduled to be held on January 5 will be three times higher than that of the previous polls even though no polling will be held in half of the 300 constituencies this time. As many as 154 candidates have already been elected unopposed as they have emerged as lone candidates in their respective constituencies due to the lowest-ever participation of candidates in the history of Bangladesh.
The government has allocated Tk 325 crore for the expenditure for maintaining law and order whereas the expenses on this head during the last general elections held on December 29, 2008 stood at only Tk. 97.79 crore.
“Even though 154 Members of Parliament (MPs) have been elected unopposed, considering the present political situation, we need to ensure law and order in every poll booth. That is why we do not plan to cut down the allocation,” an Election Commission (EC) official said.
“The finance ministry allocated about Tk. 325 crore (proposed) to meet the expenditure of law enforcement agencies in the upcoming 10th national election,” he added. “Earlier, we deployed police, Ansar and rural guards during poll time. But now we need to deploy armed forces to maintain law and order as it is a precondition of the political parties,” EC secretary Dr Muhammad Sadik told The Independent. According to the EC budget wing, the commission, during the fifth national election spent some Tk. 17,15,90,050. In the sixth national election, it allocated about Tk. 29,41,49,729. However, the estimated expenses for the upcoming elections shot up to Tk. 325 crore.
To ensure political and social stability, the EC sought President’s help to deploy the Army during poll time as per the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972. And for food, security, fuel, and other accessories of the law-enforcement agencies, the commission provides necessary funds, which are directly allocated by the finance ministry.
According to the EC, people of Bangladesh first witnessed the deployment of the armed forces or law enforcement agencies during the fifth Parliamentary poll held in 1991.
The EC plans to deploy the armed forces as it feels that the regular surveillance of law enforcement agencies is not enough to ensure a peaceful election. Following the election schedule announcement, violence broke out in several places across the country. According to the EC, the zonal election offices and law-enforcement agencies identified 428 out of 582 polling centres in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet City Corporations as “vulnerable”.
-With The Independent input
