DHAKA, Feb 9: Bangladesh’s Election Commission has issued a directive, prohibiting mobile phones within 400 yards of polling centres on the election day, sparking protests from right-wing political parties who threatened to lay siege to its office if the decision is not withdrawn.
Bangladesh will hold parliamentary elections on February 12 – the first since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following massive protests led by students in August 2024.
“No individual will be allowed to enter a polling centre or remain within a 400-yard radius of it with a mobile phone. The restriction will apply to voters, polling agents, and all others present on election duty, with limited exceptions,” said the directive issued on Sunday.
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It said only the presiding officers, officers-in-charge of the police assigned to centres, and two authorised para-police Ansar members on election duty would remain beyond the purview of the order.
Jamaat-e-Islami and its right-wing allies, which emerged as the main challenger to its once crucial ally, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in the absence of the now disbanded Awami League, sharply protested the decision, threatening to besiege EC’s office unless the order was retracted.
“If this rule is not withdrawn by this (Monday) evening, a stern movement will be built,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said.
Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair made the announcement in a press release.
The student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged last year with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus’ blessings and joined the Jamaat-led 11-party right-wing election alliance, also criticised the EC’s decision.
“If the decision is not withdrawn by this evening, the EC will be besieged tomorrow (Tuesday),” NCP convenor Nahid Islam said.
The NCP leaders spearheaded the 2024 street protests called the July Uprising that toppled Hasina’s Awami League regime.
The BNP has not commented on the EC order so far.
Meanwhile, the election campaign entered its final day, with the national capital witnessing rallies by senior leaders of major political parties.
BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman attended rallies at Kamal Ataturk Avenue playground in his Dhaka-17 constituency and at the Kalabagan Krirachakro Club playground. Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque, nominee of the 11-party electoral alliance in Dhaka-13, joined a rally at Mohammadpur Eidgah Ground. Jamaat Ameer Rahman and NCP’s Nahid Islam also attended the event. (PTI)
