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Union Parishad polls

Army deployment plea turned down

REZAUL KARIM
The government has decided to provide all logistic support to the Election Commission, except army deployment, to ensure peaceful holding of Union Parishad elections.
The decision was taken at a recent high-level meeting, which came to the conclusion that the current law and order situation did not warrant army deployment in the grassroots-level polls.
Highly placed sources said that the prime minister had an exclusive meeting with her senior cabinet colleagues and policymakers, including
Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Health Minister Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda and Post and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Haq.
It was unanimously decided at the meeting that the army would not be deployed in the UP elections.
The meeting followed the chief election commissioner's letter to the Armed Forces Division, seeking deployment of the army in the UP polls.
However, the meeting decided to give adequate logistic support to the
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Election Commission for peaceful holding of the UP elections beginning on January 25. The meeting noted that usually the UP polls were held in a festive mood in villages and, as such, deployment of the army was not needed.
Sources said the meeting reviewed the overall situation, particularly law and order. It has also been pointed out that there is no instance of deployment of troops in the UP polls.
"The army is usually deployed in general elections and it would not at all be wise to ask for its service in all elections. If an example is set through deploying the army in the UP polls, then the army might have to be deployed in elections at all levels in future," said an influential minister.
Besides, he said, the costs of such deployment would be very high.
Talking to the Daily Star, a BNP leader claimed that the law and order situation has improved greatly since Operation Clean Heart began on October 17 last year.
He said the government has decided to give all-out support for peaceful holding of the elections, and necessary instructions have already been given to the home ministry and
local administration to extend full cooperation to the EC.
Sources at the PM's office said the Prime Minister would hold a meeting with all the DCs and SPs on January 13 and ask the civil and police administration to extend the necessary support to the EC.
PMO sources further said that the government would soon explain to the CEC why it does not want to deploy the army in the UP polls. Besides, the CEC would be informed of the measures adopted by the government for smooth holding of the polls.
They said the government might not write back to the CEC, but its decisions would be communicated verbally. If necessary a delegation of the government would meet and discuss the matter with the EC.
Sources said the Prime Minister has already instructed the Ministry of Home Affairs to prepare police, Ansars and VDP for deployment during the polls. If necessary the BDR would be called out, they added.
"The CEC should realise the problems faced by the government," they concluded.