By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Bangladesh will deploy over 500,000 law enforcers including army troops across the country to ensure law and order situation before and after the country’s local government elections scheduled on Jan. 22, a senior official said on Monday.
Polls will be held in the country’s all 481 sub-districts to elect members of the local government bodies of Sub-district Councils.
The country’s Election Commissioner Sakhawat Hussain told Xinhua on Monday, the army troops will remain deployed from Jan. 20 to Jan. 24 as striking force to help civil administration to hold the local elections peacefully.
He said, security personnel from other agencies including paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, Coast Guards and Armed Police Battalion will fan out as early as Jan. 16 and will remain in the field till Jan. 24.
According to the Election Commission, some 8,131 candidates including more than 1,000 women are contesting for one chairman and two-vice chairman posts of each sub-district council.
Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda earlier told reporters here that the local elections would be in peaceful manner as they have taken required measures to ensure foolproof security.
Earlier, Bangladeshi government deployed some 600,000 law enforcers to ensure the peaceful holding of the country’s ninth parliamentary elections on Dec. 29, 2008. Foreign observers including the European Union team termed it free and fair.