No army in NCC polls

The government did not deploy the army in Narayanganj city yesterday, ignoring the Election Commission's requirement of troops to maintain law and order during tomorrow's polls.
The returning officer for the Narayanganj City Corporation polls informed the EC yesterday morning that the army would not be deployed.
Talking to reporters at his office in the evening, Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said the troops were supposed to be in Narayanganj by the morning. Since that did not happen, the EC assumed there would be no army to maintain law and order in the polls.
He said the government is constitutionally obliged to meet the EC's requirement. The commission would not take the responsibility for any disturbances during the vote.
When a reporter asked if the government had violated the constitution by not deploying the army, the CEC said, “Yes, it is a violation of the constitution.”
Article 126 of the constitution reads: "It shall be the duty of all executive authorities to assist the Election Commission in the discharge of its functions."
Later, Huda told The Daily Star that the government had set a bad precedent by refusing at the last minute to deploy the army.
He said, “They [government] did not even inform us that they would not meet our requirement of deploying the army. It is an embarrassing situation for us.”
The EC on October 16 sent a letter to the Armed Forces Division (AFD), asking it to deploy four companies of army men for five days to maintain law and order in the election areas.
The commission wanted the government to deploy the troops as a strike and mobile force from yesterday morning till 11:00pm on November 1.
The polls chief said the EC had thought the army would be dispatched as per its requirement, since it did not receive any negative response from the government regarding the letter to the AFD, which is under the Prime Minister's Office.
The home ministry on October 20 issued a circular saying that four companies of army men would be deployed in Narayanganj city areas.
The circular said details about the deployment would be given later.
The developments yesterday caught the EC completely off-guard.
The commission held an emergency meeting in the afternoon to assess the overall situation and expressed dissatisfaction at the government's last-minute refusal to deploy the army, meeting sources said.
“The government could have communicated with us. We do not know why the army was not deployed,” Huda told The Daily Star.
“Once the polls are over, we will ask the government why it did not meet the requirement of army deployment.”
He said the commission had asked the home ministry to deploy more Rab and police personnel in Narayanganj city to beef up security. “We hope we will still be able to hold a free and peaceful election.”
Huda said it was not possible to postpone tomorrow's polls, as it would have a negative impact on voters and candidates. Besides, there is a legal obligation to hold the polls within 180 days since May 5, the day Narayanganj was declared a city corporation.
The 180-day timeframe expires on November 2.
“The situation has become complicated. Yet, we have decided to hold the elections on schedule after consultation with our officials and law enforcement agencies,” the CEC said.
He said that personally he is opposed to army deployment to maintain law and order during elections. However, the commission this time went for army deployment, responding to repeated requests from two mayoral candidates and locals.
Queried if the EC had asked anyone in the government why troops were not deployed, he said, “Whom will I talk to? The prime minister, who holds the defence portfolio, is now in Australia.”
In January, the government ignored the EC's request for army deployment in the by-elections to Habiganj-1 and Brahmanbaria-3.