Bangladesh gears up to hold crucial elections on Thursday amid high security

Dhaka: Bangladesh will hold crucial parliamentary elections on Thursday, 18 months after an interim government took charge following the collapse of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year regime in massive country-wide deadly protests.

The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly one million security personnel - the largest-ever in the country's electoral history. The 13th Parliamentary elections are being held simultaneously along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.

The contest is mainly between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its once ally Jamaat-e-Islami in the absence of Hasina's now disbanded Awami League.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' interim government last year disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.

The voting will begin simultaneously in 299 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am and will continue until 4:30 pm. Voting in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.

A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting in the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday reaffirmed the Election Commission's commitment to holding a free, fair, impartial and acceptable election, saying all preparations have been made to ensure a peaceful and credible election.

"The election will be completed as promised to the people," he said while briefing international observers and media representatives in the capital.

All necessary materials, including ballot papers, have already been distributed to returning officers and are being centrally dispatched to respective constituencies, he said.

"Extensive security and coordination arrangements are in place with the support of law enforcement agencies and the government," he added.

He said that representatives from 45 countries and organisations, including election management bodies and international institutions, are observing the polls. 

"The participation of media and observers will play a significant role in ensuring maximum transparency and public trust in this election," he said.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Machud said nearly 900,000 law enforcement personnel have been deployed to ensure security during the election, state-run BSS news agency reported.

"Security deployment is being made based on local sensitivity assessments," Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah told a media briefing late Tuesday.

He said the poll body expected law enforcement agencies to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for voters during polling and after elections.

Earlier, Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam said they found 24,000 out of nearly 43,000 polling centres across the country were "high" or "moderate" risk-prone election stations.

Police said they provided a list of risk-prone polling centres to the EC, which showed that out of 2,131 polling centres in Dhaka, 1,614 were risk-prone. However, the army said they have identified two centres in Dhaka city to be "risky".

For the first time, drones and body-worn cameras are being used for election security, Sanaullah said.

Around 25,000 body-worn cameras will be deployed on the field. Some of these are IP-based for live feed, while others will record locally. Moreover, for continuous monitoring, CCTV cameras have already been installed in over 90% of centres."

He said voting will be held in a total of 42,659 centres.

EC data showed that first-time voters made up some 3.58 per cent of the total 1,27,700,597 voters.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud on Wednesday said the results of the general elections and the referendum will be announced without much delay.

"The voting atmosphere is very good. A festive mood prevails. We are working in a well-planned manner. I hope the results will be published without significant delay," he told reporters.

For the first time, nearly 800,000 expatriate Bangladeshis, who have registered with the poll body, will be able to vote through an IT-based postal ballot system.