Bangladesh EC calls upcoming election 'most risky' in history amid unrest

Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC) on Friday described the national election scheduled for February next year as the "most risky in the country's electoral history, urging officials to brace for unpredictable challenges amid political uncertainty and social unrest.

The remarks came a day after it unveiled a roadmap for the election, which has drawn mixed reactions from political parties.

"The upcoming general election will undoubtedly be the most risky in Bangladesh's electoral history, Election Commissioner M Anwarul Islam Sarker said at a training programme for election officials, which was also attended by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin.

"We may have to confront challenges that we do not yet know, he said. Unveiling the roadmap for the general election, Bangladesh's top electoral body had said the poll schedule would be announced at least 60 days before the voting date.

Another election commissioner, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, echoed Sarker's concern, saying that the upcoming election "will be risky but the matter does not end there.

A former CEC was recently garlanded with shoes (by a mob), while another is currently in jail," he said, urging officials to just follow the law and not to look to anyone else.

CEC Uddin stressed professionalism and neutrality, directing officials to prepare for possible threats to law and order as well as the spread of misinformation and disinformation through social media.

The commission wants 100 per cent neutral behaviour from election officials in the upcoming polls, he said.

The upcoming polls will be the first since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government in August 2024, following the violent protest led by Students Against Discrimination (SAD).

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has since been heading the interim government as Chief Adviser, with the Awami League barred from contesting the election pending trials of Hasina and her colleagues on charges, including crimes against humanity.

While former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several left-leaning groups have welcomed the election roadmap, Jamaat-e-Islami on Friday rejected it as a blueprint to "undermine free, fair election.

Jamaat leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, in a meeting with election officials in Cumilla district, accused Yunus of breaking his promise" by prematurely announcing the election deadline.

The Islamist party was demanding the introduction of a proportional representation (PR) system in the polls, apparently to enhance its possible stake in the future parliament.

Taher said the deadline was announced without taking a decision on the matter and other reform issues.

The newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP) -- an offshoot of the SAD seen as sympathetic to Yunus -- has also expressed reservations against the planned polls under the existing system and scenario.

The party, which is yet to get the EC registration, described the roadmap as a breach of promise.

NCP Joint Convener Ariful Islam Adeeb, in a press conference, warned that this misstep could create future crises for which the government must bear responsibility".

The party is pushing for a new constitution to replace the 1972 charter through a Constituent Assembly. It is demanding that the July Charter announced by Yunus earlier this month, acknowledging last year's revolution, be implemented through the new constitution.

Analysts have voiced concerns over whether a credible election can be held in the absence of the Awami League. They also warned that escalating mob violence and the current fragile law and order situation could also jeopardise the process.

However, BNP, which has emerged as the single major party in Awami League's absence, sounded upbeat.

Everything has been done according to public expectations. I hope there will be no more irrelevant questions about the election now, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed was quoted as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.

Yunus had earlier said the polls under his administration would be the best Bangladesh had ever witnessed in its history.