Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar has called for the deployment of the army to ensure impartial voting, vote counting and announcement of results in the by-election for the Thakurgaon-1 constituency.

He made the demand during an exchange of views with journalists at a restaurant in Thakurgaon town on Saturday afternoon, October 24.

Mia Golam Porwar said the Election Commission had stated that army deployment was necessary during the national election because voting took place across the country and the number of law enforcement personnel was comparatively limited. However, the commission reportedly believes army deployment is unnecessary for the Thakurgaon-1 by-election, as the number of law enforcement personnel will be increased threefold.

He said the situation in Thakurgaon-1 was different and that simply increasing the number of law enforcement personnel would not guarantee a fair election. He alleged that the police administration remained loyal to those in power. If police personnel assisted vote-rigging or irregularities at polling stations, he argued, increasing their numbers would not ensure electoral neutrality.

The Jamaat leader stressed the importance of ensuring impartial voting, vote counting and the announcement of results at polling stations. He said the army should be deployed alongside other law enforcement agencies to prevent vote-rigging or electoral manipulation.

He added that ensuring a fair election was important even though only one parliamentary seat was at stake. For this reason, Jamaat was urging the Election Commission to deploy the army for the Thakurgaon-1 by-election.

Those attending the meeting included Delwar Hossain, Jamaat’s parliamentary candidate for Thakurgaon-1; Sibgatullah Sibga, secretary general of Islami Chhatra Shibir; Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) Vice-President Abu Sadiq Kayem; and central and local leaders of the 11-party alliance.