Election Commission (EC) Secretary, Helal Uddin Ahmed, has said that army will be deployed in the election area 2 or 3 days before the voting date.

“The army will be deployed 2/3 days or 7/10 days before the next parliamentary election; members from Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will also be deployed”, Helal Uddin said while inaugurating a day-long training workshop for assistant returning officers appointed for the upcoming parliamentary elections at Agargaon on Thursday (Nov 15).

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Alliance have been demanding the deployment of army along with magistracy powers in the parliamentary elections. On the other hand, the ruling political party, Awami League, said that there is no scope to deploy the army with magistracy powers, rather, it can act as a striking force.

Then the EC said that the commission will decide over the deployment of army after the polls schedule is announced.

At the event, election commissioner Mahbub Talukder, said, “The EC will face international pressure if the coming election is impugned and its credibility questioned.”

He told the assistant returning officers that anyone wanting to foil the election will be punished according to existing law.