The interim government in Bangladesh announced on Monday that it will deploy more than 80,000 army troops, along with police and other forces, to ensure a peaceful election process.
“A sufficient number of law enforcement agencies will be deployed during the next parliamentary elections. Over 80,000 members of army personnel will be deployed along with members of the Bangladesh Navy, Border Guard Bangladesh, police and other forces to ensure a fair, peaceful and impartial election,” Home Adviser Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters in Dhaka.
The decision has also been made to purchase 40,000 body cameras for police ahead of the election and CCTVs will be set up at every voting centre so that all stations can be monitored from a central system, he added.
The Election Commission said earlier that the 13th parliamentary election will be held in the first half of February after interim government head Muhammad Yunus announced during his national address on August 5 – the first anniversary of last year’s uprising.
The commission also amended the rules to include the army in its definition of law enforcement personnel who discharge duties during an election, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Muhammad Sanaullah told reporters.
It also cancelled electronic voting machines amid serious allegations of election results being manipulated during the administration of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina is in self-exile in India after being toppled in the 2024 uprising, which began with student protests against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into one of the deadliest periods of political violence since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
Her Awami League party was barred from contesting in the next national elections following a decision by Bangladesh's Election Commission in May.
A directive by the Election Commission also prohibited the party and its affiliates from conducting any political activities, including publications, media appearances, online and social media campaigns, processions, rallies, or conferences, until the International Crimes Tribunal completes its proceedings.
The Awami League, founded in 1949 and once revered for leading Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, has faced growing criticism in recent years over corruption, and human rights violation allegations under Hasina’s leadership.
