Editorial
Army deployment at UP polls looks imperative
Govt should comply with the EC request
The issue centring around army deployment for the upcoming elections to the Union Parishads has figured in the public domain for quite sometime now. This per se came under discussion in a context where the army's services were being utilised in aid of the civil authorities to combat crime. Given the criminalisation of politics over time and the vulnerability of local bodies polls to violence historically, the talk of army deployment for UP elections has hardly been surprising.
On the back of it all, the Election Commission on December 29 decided to approach the government to have the army pressed into service for the elections. The engagement was sought for two months to complete the electoral process without any untoward incidents that could cast a shadow on the credibility of the polls. The EC duly followed up on this decision by sending a request letter to the government last Saturday for requisitioning the army's services. In the meantime, however, Prime Minister's political secretary Haris Chowdhury said he did not think the situation warranted deploying of the army.
The constitutional position on the question is unambiguous. The Election Commission as the designated statutory authority to conduct polls should state its requirements to the government for holding the elections smoothly, freely and fairly. And the latter is constitutionally, legally and conventionally obliged to aid and assist the EC in conducting the elections accordingly. Any foot-dragging on precautionary steps needed to be taken for the polls will create suspicion in the public mind about the congeniality of the environment and, by the same token, about the credibility of the electoral process. Moreover, the 2001 electoral law reform brought about by the caretaker government strengthened the EC's hands in conducting the elections with all necessary safeguards.
Public memory cannot be too short on something that happened a little more than a year ago. When in the last general elections under the caretaker government, armed forces were deployed, BNP as the opposition party welcomed it wholeheartedly. What's more, the party even wanted the schedule of army deployment brought forward. Now, as the government party, BNP cannot make a U-turn on something fundamental that only promises to improve the quality of the polls. The prime concern here is public belief in the credibility of the process which risks being on the line if the army is not there to oversee law and order. We, therefore, fully endorse the EC's request for army deployment at the UP polls and urge the government to comply with it urgently.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments