DHAKA, July 9, 2025 (BSS) - Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today directed the law enforcing agencies to complete all preparations by December next for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
He gave the directives at a meeting on the preparations of the law enforcing agencies for the upcoming parliamentary polls held at the State Guest House Jamuna here.
Later, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam briefed reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretaries Apurba Jahangir and Abul Kalam Azad Majumder and Senior Assistant Press Secretary Foyez Ahammad were present at the briefing.
At the meeting, the Chief Adviser also directed the authorities concerned to ensure that every polling centre is brought under CCTV coverage.
It was also informed at the meeting that eight lakh personnel of the law enforcing agencies will perform duty during the next elections.
Briefing reporters, Shafiqul Alam said the Chief Adviser asked the law enforcing agencies to make all preparations by December next for the polls.
He said there are many issues regarding the preparations.
For example, he said, about 17,000 new members are being recruited in the law enforcing agencies (Police, Border Guard, Coast Guard) and the Chief Adviser has instructed that their recruitment and training should be completed by this time.
Alam said many conspiracies are being hatched ahead of the polls to deteriorate the law and order in the country and that is why the Chief Adviser instructed the law enforcing agencies to strictly enforce the law in the coming months.
Addressing the officials present at the meeting, Prof Yunus said, "Do you have enough manpower for the elections? If new recruitment is required, start the recruitment process now. Arrange adequate training for them...all preparations must be completed by December".
The Chief Adviser said the elections held during the ousted regime were dummy ones.
"Everyone who will be involved in the next election should be trained on how to organise a real election. It should be clear who has what role. If necessary, a rehearsal election should be held so that practice can be done," he told the meeting at Jamuna.
Stating that eight lakh law enforcing personnel will be deployed in the next election, the press secretary said all members of the law enforcing agencies will have to complete their training by December for a fair election.
Out of these eight lakh members, he said, 570,000 will be Ansar personnel and 141,000 will be police members.
He said there was also a discussion on whether separate booths can be set up for voters aged 18-32 during the election.
Alam said there was a lot of discussion on how to maintain law and order before and after the election. For this reason, he said, the issue of deploying law enforcers for seven days during the polls was also discussed.
He also said it has been discussed that the DC, SP, OC, and UNO will be reshuffled before the election. "How the reshuffle will be done, it will be done in a random way."
The press secretary said how the law enforcers will be deployed during the election is an issue and where they will be deployed.
The issue of deployment of law enforcers as a striking force was discussed in detail in today's meeting, he said.
Stating that 16,000 polling centres may be risky, Alam said the Chief Adviser asked to prepare how to conduct the election peacefully in these polling centres.
At the press briefing, Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said discussions were held on the issue of conducting the election without involving those, who served as presiding officers and polling agents in the elections held during Sheikh Hasina's reign, in the next polls.
Home Adviser Lieutenant General (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and Home Secretary Nasimul Gani, along with senior officers of law enforcing agencies, were present at the meeting.