The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday placed a set of demands before the Election Commission ahead of the Jatiya Sangsad elections.
The BNP called for the exclusion of all controversial and questionable officials involved in the 鈥榠llegitimate鈥� JS elections of 2014, 2018, and 2024 from any role in the forthcoming parliamentary polls.
A BNP delegation, led by its standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan, made the demands during a meeting with chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the聽 Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital鈥檚 Agargaon.
The delegation included BNP chair鈥檚 adviser Ismail Zabiullah and former bureaucrat Mohammad Jakaria.
The BNP delegation stressed that ensuring impartiality in the coming elections required barring officials of specific institutions widely perceived as partisan from serving as polling personnel such as presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling officers.
The party mentioned specific institutions, including Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Bank, Islami Bank Hospital, and Ibn Sina Trust, saying that their officials should not be appointed to election duties.
The delegation also claimed that Islami Bank had recently terminated around 5,000 employees across the country and there were widespread allegations that those vacancies were being swiftly filled with individuals loyal to a particular political party.
The BNP also raised concern over the education ministry鈥檚 directive to hold elections to managing committees and governing bodies of educational institutions by November 1, just ahead of the probable announcement of the polls schedule.
The party alleged that this move appeared politically motivated.
According to the BNP, such elections to governing bodies of educational institutions could disrupt academic activities, annual examinations, and election-related training for teachers, many of whom are expected to serve as polling officials.
The party urged the CEC to immediately suspend the education ministry鈥檚 directive for managing committee and governing body elections in educational institutions to prevent disruptions to the electoral process.
The BNP demanded that the EC and the administration both must now act decisively in the spirit of a non-partisan caretaker government to ensure complete impartiality of the current interim government, Moyeen Khan told reporters after the meeting.
He said that the upcoming JS election could become a festive and peaceful event if the Election Commission and the government visibly demonstrated their commitment to fairness and impartiality.
Moyeen Khan said that such assurance would remove fears of election-day unrest and restore confidence among citizens who inherently believe in democracy and wish to exercise their rights freely.
The party called for a complete overhaul of the field administration, including the transfer of deputy commissioners (returning officers), upazila nirbahi officers (assistant returning officers), superintendents of police, and officers-in-charge of police stations.
According to meeting sources, the BNP also demanded the deployment of the army, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion, and police at all polling centres at least one week before the elections to ensure security.
It proposed empowering EC officials, alongside the designated executive and judicial magistrates, with magistracy powers to enforce the electoral code of conduct and curb irregularities.
The party suggested installing CCTV cameras at the polling centres 鈥� excluding the secret voting booths 鈥� to enhance transparency.
The other key demands included recovering illegal firearms, curbing the inflow of fake and black money through borders, and cancelling all contract appointments in government, semi-government, autonomous bodies, and embassies linked to the election process.
The BNP called for strict measures to prevent the use of money, muscle power, and influence at polling centres, barring outsiders from taking part in local election campaigns.
It also urged the commission to stop any religious propaganda or communal rhetoric intended to sway voters and to prevent the use of religion as a means of coercion or inducement.
The BNP demanded safeguards against cash, corruption, and criminality in the electoral process, insisting that the results should be announced directly from each polling centre immediately after the vote count.
The party also proposed restrictions on local observers from monitoring elections in their home districts, adding that partisan organisations or those with political affiliations should not be permitted to act as observers.
Additionally, the BNP called for the deployment of Ansar and VDP members outside their home districts while community police, the party added, must be excluded from election duties altogether.