Law and order will improve ahead of polls

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin yesterday said the country's law and order situation would gradually improve ahead of the election and referendum scheduled for February 12 next year.

The CEC made the remarks while talking to reporters after inspecting the process of sending postal ballots to overseas voters at the Tejgaon Post Office.

Responding to questions about the law and order situation following the recent killing of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, also an aspirant from Dhaka-8, the CEC said there was no reason for fear.

"The law and order situation will improve as polling day draws closer," he said, reiterating that the election and referendum would be held in a "festive" atmosphere.

Meanwhile, a three-member BNP delegation met the CEC at the Election Commission around 3:00pm yesterday.

After the meeting, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said maintaining law and order during the election period was the government's responsibility, while the EC could appoint or transfer officials under certain provisions through which it has jurisdiction over administrative matters.

"We hope and wish that the law and order situation will gradually improve and the election environment remains healthy. We have called on the government in this regard, and the people also want to cast their votes freely and independently in a festive atmosphere," he said.

Salahuddin also said they demanded several changes to the nomination papers.

According to Article 12 of the RPO, a candidate is only required to provide information on criminal cases. However, he said, at present certified copies of bail orders or order sheets were being sought, details of which were difficult to trace for political leaders facing hundreds of "ghost cases".

He therefore requested that information be accepted in line with the core provisions of the RPO, without imposing an additional burden of paperwork.

He also sought clarification that the term "accused" should only apply to cases in which charges have been formally framed by a court.

Salahuddin said the nomination paper currently states that the chief election agent, or in their absence the candidate, must open a bank account for election expenses. He requested that the rules consistently use the phrase "candidate or election agent".

Candidates should be allowed to open accounts until the appointment of chief election agents, which usually happens only after election symbols are allocated, he said.

"The EC assured that it will look into the matter," Salahuddin added.