Violence during polls is an inherent part of the country’s political culture, said Election Commissioner Rafiqul Islam.
“The atmosphere tends to get heated after the polls schedule is announced; you don’t feel the elections are here until it does,” he told the media on Friday (Dec 21) at Rajshahi.
“Heater arguments, altercations; these are part of the country’s political culture!” he added.
Responding to the journalist’s queries about the deployment of troops, he said that none of the law enforcing agencies including the army have magistracy powers.
“Just because someone is armed doesn’t mean they have magistracy powers. That goes against the constitution.”
The EC said that the army has the authority to shoot or arrest in case of violence or take instructions from the magistrates if need. “Magistracy is not crucial; safety is.”
On the High Court scrapping the nomination of a few BNP candidates and the party’s subsequent demand for polls, Islam said, “The commission will come to a decision after researching the laws thoroughly.”
He pressed that the commission has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the people can cast their franchises safely and without any hitch.