EC eyes inclusion of armed forces

Ahead of local government elections, the Election Commission (EC) yesterday said it plans to amend the definition of law enforcement agencies to include the Armed Forces Division to address any untoward situations during the polls.

As part of the move, the commission said it will hold a meeting this week to finalise the amendment and related measures, paving the way for the armed forces to be formally recognised within the law enforcement framework for local government elections.

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The move mirrors changes made ahead of the 13th parliamentary election, when the EC revised the Representation of the People Order, 1972, to include the armed forces in the definition of law enforcement agencies.

The commission now wants to extend the provision to local government elections.

The three local government laws enacted in 2009 for union parishads, municipalities and city corporations define law enforcement agencies as the police, Armed Police Battalion, Rab, Ansar, Ansar Battalion, BGB, Coast Guard and the Defence Services Division. The definition, however, does not include the three services under the Armed Forces Division.

EC officials said the amendment is intended to ensure preparedness for any law and order situation during the polls.

Asked about the proposed changes, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told The Daily Star, “We are making some changes. A meeting may be held tomorrow or the day after on this.”

He said several definitions may be revised.

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“For instance, the definition of law enforcement agencies may include the armed forces. While some tiers of local government already include them, others do not. We will add them where they are missing. Except for zila parishad elections, we may include this provision for all other local government polls.”

Asked whether the armed forces would be deployed once the definition is changed, Masud said, “They will not be deployed in local government elections. We are not obliged to do so. But we are revising the definition to include them. If needed, we will deploy them; if not, we won’t.”

Bangladesh has no precedent of deploying the armed forces during local government elections. Ahead of the Narayanganj City Corporation election in October 2011, the then EC requested the Armed Forces Division to deploy the army for five days to maintain law and order, but the request was not implemented.

During the 13th parliamentary election held on February 12 this year, around 103,000 armed forces personnel were deployed for eight days -- three days before the polls, on election day and for four days afterwards -- to help maintain law and order.

Bangladesh has 4,580 union parishads, 330 municipalities, 500 upazila parishads, 61 zila parishads and 13 city corporations. With no local government elections held for more than two years, the EC now faces a backlog as the terms of many elected bodies have expired.

Now, the EC is preparing to begin local government elections with union parishad polls in the first half of October, with the schedule likely to be announced in the first half of August.

As part of the preparations, it has drafted a roadmap, published the draft code of conduct for the five tiers of local government on its website for feedback, and revised the Polling Station Setup and Management Guideline 2025.

The commission is also set to publish the draft voter list on August 9 and the final voter list on August 31. Ballot boxes and election officials are already in place.

On July 9, the EC asked the Local Government Division to provide information on previous local government elections -- including polling dates, oath-taking, first meetings and tenure expiry dates -- by July 31 to facilitate election preparations.

On polling centres, Masud said each ward would have one polling centre.

“We expect the local government elections to begin in October,” he said.

He added that more legal changes were under consideration.

“For example, teachers of MPO-listed institutions may be barred from contesting local government elections. While teachers of private institutions can run, those from MPO-listed schools will not be allowed. We are preparing to propose this amendment.”