Google Alert – Bangladesh Army
The home ministry will reshuffle superintendents of police and officers-in-charge through a lottery before the Election Commission announces the polls schedule.
“DCs, SPs, UNOs, and OCs play key roles during elections, and there is always a perception that candidates try to have their preferred officials posted in their constituencies. That’s why, this year, we have decided to assign SPs and OCs through a lottery,” Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters after a high-level meeting at his ministry yesterday.
He also said that around 8 lakh members of different security forces, including the army and police, and Ansar, will be deployed during the upcoming general election.
According to insiders, the meeting discussed the possibility of pulling the armed forces back to the barracks for a few months and then redeploying them before the polls schedule is announced.
The home adviser told the meeting that the government believes the law and order situation is gradually improving, and if the trend continues, it will consider withdrawing the armed forces, added the meeting sources.
A meeting source told The Daily Star, “Although the issue was discussed, any decision in this regard will have to come from the chief adviser.”
The meeting, convened to finalise action plans for law enforcement to ensure smooth conduct of the upcoming polls, was participated by the Special assistant to the chief adviser (for the home ministry), the principal secretary to the chief adviser, the senior secretary of the public administration ministry, the senior secretary of the home ministry, the finance secretary, the information secretary, and the senior secretary of the Election Commission, along with secretaries from at least 11 ministries and divisions.
The meeting was also attended by the inspector general of police (IGP), the director generals of Border Guard Bangladesh, Ansar, and Coast Guard, and a representative from the Armed Forces Division. According to sources, Rapid Action Battalion was not invited at the meeting.
The CA office yesterday wrote to the Election Commission, asking it to complete all necessary preparations for holding the polls in February, as announced by Chief Adviser Prof Yunus in his address to the nation on Tuesday.
Following CA’s announcement, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin said the election schedule may be unveiled in early December, and in that case, reshuffle of the SPs and OCs may take place in November.
At yesterday’s meeting, Home Adviser Jahangir Alam observed that some field administration officials tend to act in favour of certain candidates.
Agreeing with the observation, Mokhles Ur Rahman, senior secretary of the public administration ministry, said officials will be repeatedly cautioned about this during the election training sessions.
The Election Commission monitors polling centers through CCTV cameras during elections. However, in the upcoming election, the chief adviser himself is expected to be present at his office to monitor the situation via CCTVs, according to discussions at the meeting.
Meeting sources said the chief adviser has instructed the home ministry to speed up the ongoing recruitment process under its jurisdiction, aiming to deploy the newly appointed personnel to the field after short-term training.
This directive comes in the view of the Election Commission’s plan to announce the polls schedule in December.
At the meeting, instructions were also given to complete the training of all government officials from election-related offices and agencies without delay. The home adviser said no separate training allowance should be necessary for government officials participating in the training.
The meeting also discussed withdrawing 21 DCs who were recently promoted to the rank of joint secretary from field duties by next week. Typically, officers with the rank of deputy secretary serve as DCs.
According to sources, the meeting discussed receiving the list of polling agents several days before the election day, rather than on the day before, as is currently practised.
The meeting also stressed the need to ensure that polling agents do not leave the centres during voting hours. Additionally, they will not be allowed to approach the booths too closely while on duty, to prevent them from identifying which symbol a voter is choosing. The idea of setting up separate booths for voters under the age of 30 was also discussed.
The home boss asked the information secretary about the ministry’s actions regarding the spread of fake news from various platforms. He requested the ministry to launch campaigns to increase voter interest ahead of the elections.
He also instructed relevant officials to devise necessary strategies to maintain heightened vigilance regarding the possibility of a major political party boycotting the upcoming parliamentary elections.