Dhaka: Bangladesh’s election commission Wednesday will announce the date of the next general election, an official said, amidst a street campaign by the Opposition BNP and its allies demanding a non-party interim government to conduct transparent polls.
Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam made the announcement at a press briefing at Nirbachan Bhaban here.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal will address the nation at 7 pm local time, he said.
The secretary said the commission would hold a meeting beforehand at 5 pm where it would set the schedule.
The election could be held on any day between January 6 and 9, The Daily Star newspaper quoted sources at the poll body as saying.
The commission was announcing the schedule because conditions were now suitable to do so, Alam added.
The countdown to the election already began on November 1 with regulations stipulating a January 29 deadline for the polls.
The election schedule will come amid a blockade by former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies that demand the resignation of the government and the appointment of a non-partisan caretaker government.
The ruling Awami League has declined to accept the demand, saying elections would be held under the incumbent premier Sheikh Hasina, who also rejected proposals for dialogue with the opposition by the US and other major Western countries, calling BNP a terrorist organisation.
In 2014, the BNP and like-minded parties boycotted the 10th general election over similar demands. But the Awami League was then elected for a second consecutive term amid violence across the country.
In 2018, the BNP took part in the election but levelled allegations of ballot stuffing. At the end of the 10th parliament’s term, MPs elected from the BNP stepped down.
In anticipation of the Election Commission’s announcement of the poll schedule, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has ordered all of its units to be on high alert to prevent any potential violence in the coming days, The Daily Star newspaper reported.
BNP sources Tuesday said its activists would take to the streets once the Election Commission unveils the polls schedule, it said.
It is likely to announce a siege to the Election Commission Secretariat along with the blockade that is on, they added.
Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman said, “Once the polls schedule is announced, it’ll be known when exactly the ballots will be delivered to the polling stations.”
The EC officials said that following the announcement of the schedule, they would issue a public notification and appoint returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers.
The ROs with the assistance of the AROs will do all the necessary work to conduct the election. They will have the legal powers, under the electoral laws, to ensure a free and fair election.
The EC would also send a demi-official letter to the Cabinet division, seeking assistance in conducting the election and asking that field-level government officers are not transferred until the results are published, the paper said.
With the announcement of the polls schedule, the electoral code of conduct would take effect, EC officials said.
Campaigning will start only after the deadline for withdrawal of candidature expires.
Ministers and lawmakers would not be able to use government vehicles or enjoy other facilities while carrying out campaign-related work. They are also not allowed to make any donations to any institutions from public funds.
The government would not be allowed to approve or inaugurate any development project to woo voters.
The commission last week updated the voter list with 11,96,91,633 voters.
Since October 28, the opposition parties have been enforcing transport blockades and clashing with police and rival activists in support of their demand for a caretaker government.
The political violence in the last two weeks killed at least five people including a policeman. Over 200 people were wounded and dozens of vehicles, mostly empty buses, were damaged or set on fire during the protests, prompting authorities to deploy paramilitary troops to guard highways and maintain law and order in major cities.
According to media reports, some 8,000 opposition leaders and activists including BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown.
The government leaders have said that the opposition leaders and activists were not arrested for political reasons, but for their involvement in “criminal activities”.
But, the BNP said the Awami League government turned the country into a “big prison”.
Major Western countries, including the United States, have called for a political settlement ahead of elections through dialogue among three major parties – Awami League, BNP, and Jatiya Party.
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas on Monday sought meetings with leaders of the three parties to break the political impasse. “The United States wants free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner and calls on all sides to eschew violence and exercise restraint,” the embassy said in a media statement.
PTI