In an unprecedented and potentially politically sensitive move, Bangladesh Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus will visit Army headquarters on January 26 to take a briefing from formation commanders ahead of the February 12 elections, Northeast News has reliably learnt.
A January 4 Army Headquarters document accessed by the Northeast News reveals that besides Chief of Army Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman, formation commanders, including top General Officers Commanding (GOCs), will hold detailed discussions on the forthcoming elections with Yunus who appears to have taken a personal interest in the matter.
While Army Headquarters has put in place all security arrangements ahead of Yunus’ visit, it is expected that Gen Zaman will lead the discussions and impress upon the Chief Adviser the deployment of units across the country.
The Bangladesh Police, the paramilitary Ansar Force, the Rapid Action Battalion and other law and order agencies will also be deployed across all polling stations, including the sensitive booths where the violence is apprehended.
The visit of the country’s chief executive to Army Headquarters is usually limited to special occasions such as chairing meetings related to the Army Promotion Board.
On his part, Yunus will also address the GOCs which some defence sources consider “unusual”, especially at a time when foreign media recently focused on the likelihood of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s “groundbreaking” performance at the hustings.
The United States appears to be advocating the Jamaat-e-Islami, a preference that former American Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas did not conceal during his tenure from 2022 to 2024.
Not only Haas but his “stop-gap” successor Chargé d’Affaires Tracey Ann Jacobson met the Jamaat leadership, including Amir Shafiqur Rahman, on several occasions.
Brent Christensen, who over charge as US Ambassador to Bangladesh on January 12, has not officially met the Jamaat amir but the recent revelations of a recorded conversation in which a Dhaka-based American diplomat was heard saying that the US would like to develop a closer relationship with the Jamaat.
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This caused to stir a hornet’s nest in Bangladesh, especially as it revealed the US’ preference for an Islamist party less than three weeks before the country goes to the polls.
India, an external stakeholder in Bangladesh’s election, has preferred to not react to the US’ engagement with the Jamaat whose internal assessment of the election has thrown up surprising figures – wins across 76 parliamentary seats and keen contests in 85 other constituencies.
Dhaka-based political analysts said that Yunus may not be averse to a Jamaat surge in the popular vote even as he keeps his options open with the results of a controversial referendum which he could use to prolong his stay in power.
Political analysts said that the Army, led by Gen Zaman, would seek a “free and fair, if not a participatory election”, but much depends on the law and order situation in a country where most elections in the past were visited by intense political violence.
