Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda says he supports deploying troops in the parliamentary election, which the BNP has been demanding for long but the ruling Awami League finds it unnecessary.
“I think troops should be deployed in the national election as it has been done before,” Huda said on Sunday.
Speaking at a discussion by the Election Working Group — a platform of 28 polls observers in Dhaka, he, however, said he cannot make the decision alone. “There are other election commissioners. The decision will be made upon their opinions.”
BNP National Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan earlier told the discussion, “The army plays special roles in different countries, but in our country they are kept away from the elections.”
Awami League leader Faruk Khan, however, said it was the Election Commission’s call.
“The government has nothing to do with it, but still some political parties are on to create a confusion over the issue,” said Khan, who sits on the ruling party’s policymaking Presidium body.