Bangladesh is set to hold parliamentary elections on Thursday, the first nationwide vote since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted amid mass protests in August 2024. Authorities have introduced unprecedented security measures, with more than half of the country’s voting centers deemed “at risk.”“Nearly 24,000 polling stations out of about 43,000 across the country are classified as “high” or “medium” risk, according to police assessments. In Dhaka alone, 1,614 out of 2,131 polling centers were flagged as risky. However, the military said it identified only two centers in the capital as “risky”.
The Electoral Commission (EC) said its security deployment strategy is based on local sensitivities and threat assessments.“Security deployments are based on local sensitivity assessments,” Elections Commissioner Abu Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah told a media briefing.
Document security and technical deployment
The upcoming polls will witness the largest deployment of law enforcement personnel in Bangladesh’s electoral history, officials said. Nearly 958,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country.Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam said more than 157,000 police personnel will be directly involved in electoral duties and will be supported by nearly 30,000 police personnel at police stations across the country.For the first time, authorities deployed drones, drones and body cameras to monitor the process.“Additionally, drones and body cameras are being used for the first time in election security,” Sanalla said.Around 25,000 body-worn cameras will be used on the ground, while CCTV cameras have been installed in more than 90 per cent of polling centers to ensure continuous monitoring.
299 seats voted
Polling will be held from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm in 299 wards, with Sherpur-3 polling postponed due to the death of a candidate. A total of 42,659 voting centers have been set up.More than 127.7 million voters are eligible to vote, including about 3.58% of first-time voters. In addition to the parliamentary elections, citizens will hold a referendum on an 84-point reform package.The Election Commission has deployed 2,098 administrative judges and 657 judicial judges to oversee the electoral process.Sanara said the EC was satisfied with the law and order situation and expressed hope that law enforcement agencies would ensure a peaceful environment during and after voting.
political background
The election comes 18 months after Hasina’s Awami League government was ousted in a student-led uprising on August 5, 2024. The interim government, led by chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, subsequently dissolved the Awami League and banned it from contesting elections.The main competition is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami. Pre-poll surveys showed the BNP as the front-runner, with its chairman Tarique Rahman emerging as the main contender for the top job.With heightened surveillance, massive security deployments and advanced surveillance systems in place, Bangladesh is heading into a closely watched election seen as a key test of its political transition after the Hasina era.
