Voting for the 12th parliamentary election today. According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the election participated by 1969 candidates of 28 political parties and independents, will be held on Sunday (January 7) in 299 constituencies across the country. The voting will begin at 8 am and will continue till 4 pm.
The election campaign of the candidates ended a day earlier in different districts of the country amid violence, violation of the code of conduct, and loss of lives. In the elections, the ruling party has dominated the campaigns of the candidates.
More than 150 incidents of violence happened across the country. More than 200 people were injured. Three people were killed. Of them, one was killed in Munshiganj and two in Pirojpur. Besides, at least four people were killed after a passenger train caught fire in the capital. The Benapole Express train was set on fire in the Golapbag area of Sayedabad on Friday night when the train was on its way to Dhaka from the western city of Jessore.
According to election experts, in the absence of the main opposition parties in the field of politics, the ruling party's candidates have shown their power in such elections. There are questions about the role of the Election Commission in stopping the violence that took place in such a non-competitive election and forcing the candidates to follow the code of conduct. The Election Commission could not take any strict action against the candidates for serious violations of the code of conduct. In particular, the Election Commission has fined the boat candidate of the Comilla-6 constituency four times after a show-cause notice, the boat candidate of Barguna-2 constituency has been fined the same after four show-cause notices and four cases have been filed against the boat candidate and supporters of Jhenaidah-2 constituency for violating the code of conduct. They questioned the EC's will for not taking strong action against these candidates even after serious allegations were proved against them.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has expressed his optimism that the 12th parliamentary election will be held in a festive and peaceful environment. "We hope there will be a festive election," he said. He urged the voters to come to the polling centers without any fear and exercise their voting rights. Besides, he expressed apprehension about the free and fair election in this year's election.
The Election Commission (EC) has decided to send ballot papers and other election materials to 72 remote upazilas across the country on the morning of the voting day to ensure a fair election. The Election Commission (EC) has launched an app named 'Smart Election Management BD' at a cost of Tk 21 crore for the first time to provide information about the polling centers and the voting rate on the voting day. Apart from this, information about the presiding officer will also be available in the app, including the seat-based voting rate and the candidate's photo every two hours.
A law and order monitoring cell has been formed centrally to monitor the law and order situation on voting day. There will also be a social media monitoring team to prevent rumors on the day of voting. On voting day, various campaigns of the EC are going on in the media to increase the number of voters in the centers.
Participation of 28 registered parties:
A total of 28 political parties among the 44 registered political parties with the EC are taking part in the election. Sixteen like-minded political parties, including BNP, boycotted the election. At that time, the parties decided to resist the vote and called for a 48-hour hartal on the voting day. A total of 1,971 candidates are contesting for 299 parliamentary seats. Of them, 1,534 candidates from 28 political parties are in the fray. A total of 437 candidates are contesting as independent candidates. The election to Naogaon-2 constituency was postponed due to the death of independent candidate Aminul Islam. Among the political parties, 266 candidates from Bangladesh Awami League, 265 from Jatiya Party, 135 from Trinamool BNP, 122 from the National People's Party, 96 from Bangladesh Congress, 39 from Islami Front Bangladesh, 42 from Islami Oikya Jote, 30 from Krishak Sramik Janata League, 9 from Gano Forum, 21 from Gano Front and 21 from Zaker Party. Jatiya Party JP 13, The election to Naogaon-2 constituency was postponed due to the death of independent candidate Aminul Islam. Among the political parties, 266 candidates from Bangladesh Awami League, 265 from Jatiya Party, 135 from Trinamool BNP, 122 from National People's Party, 96 from Bangladesh Congress, 39 from Islami Front Bangladesh, 42 from Islami Oikya Jote, 30 from Krishak Sramik Janata League, 9 from Gano Forum, 21 from Gano Front and 21 from Zaker Party. Jatiya Party JP 13, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) 66, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh 10, Bangladesh Islami Front 35, Bangladesh Kalyan Party 16, Bangladesh Khelpat Andolon 11, Bangladesh Jatiya Party 5, Bangladesh Nationalist Andolon 56, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation 38, Bangladesh National Awami Party-NAP 5, Bangladesh Nationalist Front BNF 45, Bangladesh Muslim League 4, Bangladesh Supreme Party 79. Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijot 63, Bangladesh Workers Party 26, Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal-ML 4, Ganotantri Party 10.
EC's measures to ensure a fair election
The Election Commission (EC) has formed 300 'Election Search Committees' comprising judicial officers. The constituency-based committees consist of joint district and sessions judges, senior assistant judges and assistant judges. The committee will investigate the issues related to 'pre-election irregularities'. If any irregularities take place before the election while performing their duties, the committee will investigate and send a report to the concerned district election officer. Then the concerned District Election Officer will send the report to the Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat. The search committee can accompany a bench assistant or stenographer or office assistant while performing his duty. The committee has issued show-cause notices to around 746 people since the announcement of the schedule. The list includes candidates of different political parties, their supporters, independent candidates, government officials, local public representatives, members of law enforcement agencies. After submitting the investigation report of the Election Anusanshan Committee, the Election Commission fined two candidates of the EC government party and ordered cases against more than 70 candidates, including the candidates. The candidacy of an independent was also rejected. In the end, the candidacy was returned through a verdict from the High Court.
653 Judicial Magistrates: In addition to the Election Monitoring Committee consisting of judicial officers, 653 judicial magistrates have come to the field to complete the trial immediately. They will be on duty in the constituency for five days before and after the election. According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the magistrates can immediately try and sentence them to 3-7 years imprisonment for snatching ballot papers, destroying ballot papers, snatching ballot boxes, obstructing or forcing voting, not keeping the voting environment unsuitable for voting.
1640 Executive Magistrates: 1640 officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) cadre have been appointed as executive magistrates to ensure compliance with the electoral code of conduct, as well as to maintain overall law and order in the election area, prevent crime and guide the mobile court and striking force, especially BGB, Coast Guard and Armed Forces teams. These executive magistrates have been empowered to operate mobile courts from January 5 to January 9 under the scheduled laws as per the Mobile Court Act.
7 lakh 47 thousand 322 members of different forces will be in the field to maintain law and order in the election. Police, RAB, BGB, Coast Guard and Ansar members are among them. According to the EC, there will be 5 lakh 16 thousand Ansar, 1 lakh 82 thousand 91 members of police (including RAB), 2 thousand 355 members of Coast Guard and 46 thousand 876 members of BGB.
Armed forces in the field: In addition, members of the Armed Forces came to the field to assist the civil administration under 'In Aid to the Civil Power' in the election field. They will be in the field from January 3 to Wednesday to January 10. A joint coordination cell has been set up at the Armed Forces Division with representatives from different ministries/ divisions and law enforcement agencies, which will remain effective till January 10. Members of the Armed Forces will be stationed at nodal points and other convenient places in every district, upazila, and metropolitan area. The forces will complete area-wise deployment at the request and coordination of the concerned returning officer.
The Navy will perform duties in 19 upazilas, including two coastal districts (Bhola and Barguna). BGB will perform duties alone in 45 upazilas bordering the plains. In addition, the army will perform joint duties with the BGB in 47 bordering upazilas and the Coast Guard in four coastal upazilas. On the other hand, the Bangladesh Air Force will provide necessary helicopter support to the polling stations in the hill areas. The required number of helicopters of the Air Force have been kept ready in case of emergency.
According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), no meeting, rally, procession or procession can be held from 8 am on December 28 to 4 pm on Tuesday. Taxi cabs, baby taxis and auto-rickshaws, microbuses, jeeps, pickups, cars, buses, trucks, tempos, launches, easy bikes, engine boats, and speedboats will not be allowed in the election area for 24 hours on the voting day. Motorcycles will be banned for three days from Saturday to Monday. However, vehicles of law enforcement agencies, government vehicles, fire service, ambulances, and newspaper-laden vehicles will remain out of the purview of the restrictions. Public transport will run for the convenience of voters.
A total of 234 foreign observers and journalists have been approved to monitor the 12th parliamentary elections. Among the foreigners, 158 are observers and 76 are journalists from different media. The EC has approved 20,773 local election observers. A total of 517 members from 40 central observer organizations and 20,256 from 84 local observer organizations will monitor the polls.
The expenditure of this year's parliamentary election was initially estimated at Tk 1,500 crore. Gradually, this cost is increasing to more than Tk 2,000 crore. According to EC sources, it was proposed to allocate about Tk 1,500 crore for election management and law and order sectors. Later, the demand for allocation increased and the total expenditure could stand at Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200 crore. Of this, the probable expenditure has been estimated at Tk 1,225.62 crore as per the demand of the law enforcement agencies. The estimated cost of conducting the election has been estimated at Tk 1,050.60 crore.
12th parliamentary election: Polling centers: 42 thousand 24, voting centers: more than 2 lakh 60 thousand, total voters: 11 crore 96 lakh 91 thousand 633. Male voters: 6 crore 7 lakh 71 thousand 579 Female voters: 5 crore 89 lakh 19 thousand 202 Number of participating parties: 28 Total candidates: 1 thousand 969 Political Party candidates: 1 thousand 533 Independent candidates: 437 Polling Officers; About 10 million.