A senior Awami League leader on Saturday claimed that the non-deployment of troops in the Narayanganj City Corporation polls had resulted from a procedural mistake committed by the Election Commission, which sent the requisition letter to the Armed Forces Division and not to the prime minister.
The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, however, said that the commission had followed a similar procedure for army deployment as it did in the national elections in 2008.
Some ranking leaders of the ruling Awami League, including senior cabinet members, expressed their unwillingness about the elections and declined to make comments formally.
‘I talked with the prime minister over phone on Thursday to know about the army deployment and she told me from Australia that she had not received any letter from the Election Commission in this regard,’ the Awami League’s presidium member Kazi Zafar Ullah told New Age on Saturday.
He accused the commission of not communicating with the government properly for army deployment for the city polls and said that the commission’s letter sent to the Armed Force Division had not reached the prime minister till Thursday.
‘As far as I know the commission sent the letter to the Armed Force Division, which was not forwarded to the prime minister,’ Zafar Ullah said, adding that the commission could send the letter to the prime minister, who holds the portfolio of the defence minister.
Earlier, the commission, before the by-elections to the Habiganj 1 and the Brahmanbaria 3 constituency, said that the government did not respond to its call for the deployment of the army in the polls without communicating with the prime minister, the AL leader said.
He, however, hoped that the elections would be held in a free, fair and credible manner as were the previous polls under the present government.
A senior cabinet member, however, expressed his unwillingness about the city polls saying that the party’s decision on lend support for certain candidate out of two ruling party leaders would put a negative impact on the party.
‘I do not know anything about the army deployment as I am no more interested in the elections after the party had lent its support for one out of the two leaders,’ the minister told New Age.
Another key leader said that there was no need for army deployment in the local government polls as all the local government elections held under the present government were free and fair.
‘A festive atmosphere is prevailing in Narayanganj centring on the elections. I cannot understand that why the deployment of the army is essential there,’ he said.
Asked about the government stand regarding the commission’s requisition for the army, the Awami League’s presidium member Matia Chowdhury refused to make any comments.
‘I will not make any comments as I do not know about it,’ Matia, also the agriculture minister, told New Age on Saturday.
The Awami League’s joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, also the spokesman of the party, refused to make any comments at the moment.
The chief election commissioner at a press conference on Friday said that the commission on October 16 had decided to deploy troops and sent a letter the same day to the principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division asking for four companies of troops for the city polls.
He also said that the army was deployed in the past elections following the same procedure.
‘In order to hold free and fair elections to the city corporation, we had a plan under which army troops were supposed to be deployed there on Friday but no troops were deployed yet presumably because of the non-cooperation of the government,’ Shamsul said.
‘It was a constitutional obligation for the government to deploy troops as we asked for it,’ Shamsul said. ‘We do not have any liability in this regard. We took steps and sent a requisition but the government paid no heed to it. I do not know whether this is the government’s negligence. But it has given no reply to our letter.’
Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1
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