FE Today Logo

No army, paramilitary troops in 'upcoming DCC polls'

January 16, 2010 00:00:00


Army or paramilitary troops will not be deployed in the upcoming elections of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).
The decision to this end was taken at a recent meeting of the Election Commission (EC), Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain told BSS.
"There is no need to deploy army and paramilitary troops in maintaining law and order during the DCC polls as the election code of conduct is now more strict than the earlier," he said.
"The EC is focusing more on executing election code of conduct instead of deploying army and paramilitary forces," he added.
Though the army or paramilitary troops will not be deployed during the DCC polls, Mr Hossain said, police, RAB and Ansar and VDP members will be engaged in maintaining law and order.
"The authorities concerned will bring in police from outside the city for more security if the situation demands," he said.
Besides, he said, judicial and executive magistrates would oversee the execution of election code of conduct side by side with three commissioners including Chief Election Commissioner and EC's own team.
Mr Hossain said the election code of conduct for candidates of DCC polls is being made stricter than the previous time, adding that EC has taken up these measures to stop influence of black money.
He said some new conditions are being added to the existing election code of conduct. The conditions include, he said, mayor of the city corporation cannot approve any project and release the fund before the election (announcement of schedule to voting day).

Share if you like