Not overly worried or concerned over the likely threat of sanctions against the Bangladesh Election Commission or its members, the poll panel will fulfill its “responsibility of holding elections and the process for which needs to be completed by January 29, 2024”, Anisur Rahman, one of the five election commissioners, told the Northeast News today.
“What has the EC done to attract the likely imposition of sanctions” by the US, Rahman asked, adding that “we cannot do anything if such an action is taken”. In a 15-minute-long interview to Northeast News, Rahman said the “EC is not involved as far as American sanctions are concerned. It will press on with the “primary responsibility” of holding the elections that need to be conducted by January 29, 2024.
Asked whether a conducive atmosphere will prevail in Bangladesh whenever the elections are held, Rahman said, “We cannot say that now. Much will depend on what the situation will be like at a time closer to election date”.
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The other EC members are Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, Brigadier General Ahsan Habib Khan (retd), Begum Rashida Sultana and Mohammad Alamgir. Rahman and Alamgir are former secretaries to the Bangladesh government.
Pointing out that “all past elections in Bangladesh, including the byepolls, have been peaceful”, Rahman, who refuted media reports that suggested that the polls might even not be held, said that last week the commission met with senior home ministry officials and senior law enforcement officers to discuss several issues, including the release of budgetary sanctions.
Disclosing that “discussions on deciding the precise date for the issuance of the election notification will be held within the second week of November”, Rahman said that about 600,000 police and other law enforcement personnel will be deployed during the poll process, including the day elections are held across the country. He added that about 12 crore registered voters will exercise their franchise on the day of elections.
Rahman was, however, chary to admit whether January 6 was an informal date for the nearly 12 crore voters to cast their ballots across 300 constituencies. Pointing out that it was the “responsibility of political parties” to ensure that voters come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, Rahman said the EC’s job “is to create the conditions for the elections”.
In this context, the election commissioner said that the EC “has already begun the process of putting out advertisements through the TV and electronic media besides newspapers. Posters will also be put out soon, Rahman said, adding that “as of now there were no reports of violence” even as “elections are still far away”. Rahman said that ballot boxes and important electoral stationery were being despatched to the EC’s field and district level offices.
