Report in Prothom Alo, Nov 13, 2017 Update: 22:36
Tofail Ahmed, Awami League, BNPRuling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) leader and commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday turned down BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s call for deploying army during the next general elections with magistracy power.
“Why will the armed forces get the magistracy power during the polls? The armed forces will only assist other forces during the polls,” said Tofail when a group of newsmen asked about his party’s position on Khaleda’s call, at Bangladesh Secretariat.
About his party’s position on using electronic voting machine (EVM) in the elections, Tofail, a member of the ruling party’s advisory council, said it is the election commission which will take a decision in this regard.
“The armed forces were deployed during the 2001 general elections with magistracy power and it benefited the BNP, but AL activists had to hide at that time,” said Tofail Ahmed.
The AL termed unexpected Khaleda’s remark that polls under prime minister Sheikh Hasina will never be fair.
The AL leader claimed that the ruling party did not rig the last elections held on 5 January 2014.
Addressing a huge public gathering at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Sunday, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, Khaleda Zia, said a fair general election is in no way possible under prime minister and AL president Sheikh Hasina.
She demanded deployment of the armed forces with magistracy power to ensure free and fair parliamentary polls.http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/166359/Why-should-army-be-given-magistracy-power
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