'Army deployment 5 days before polls'

Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed has said military will be deployed in country from at least five days ahead of the election.

“Army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be deployed five to 10 days before election,” he told assistant returning officers in Dhaka today.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a day-long briefing programme of the assistant returning officers ahead of the election on December 30.

The specification on army deployment comes in purview of the commission resorting to army as aiding force on the back of demands from opposition parties.

WHY THE FUSS ABOUT ARMY?

Bangladesh’s major opposition parties including BNP and its alliance Jatiya Oikyafront have long been demanding army deployment for free and fair elections.

They fear of vote rigging by the ruling party, citing reasons that the election is going to take place under the partisan administration of Sheikh Hasina.

While declaring the first election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said that army will be deployed for aiding the civil administration.

WHEN IS THE ELECTION?

Election Commission has revised polls schedule, deferring the 11th general election by a week to December 30 – a decision taken earlier this week.

The authorities have fixed November 28 as the deadline for filing nomination papers, December 2 for scrutiny and December 9 last date of withdrawal.

The move came following demands from several opposition political parties.