Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, Lieutenant General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq, held a closed-door meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Wednesday.
After the half an hour-long meeting, the CEC told the media that the commission in its next meeting would decide, when, where and how many law enforcement officials would be deployed during the 10th parliamentary polls.
Before meeting the CEC, the PSO also held an hour-long meeting with the EC secretary Muhammed Sadique.
Following the meetings, however, PSO Shafiul Huq did not reveal the content of discussion, and Asked, when army might be deployed, he said: “You would see when it is deployed.”
EC officials said the commission may fix the date for army deployment in its Friday meeting while the CEC’s one-on-one meeting with the PSO was also about the deployment.
The commission has proposed army deployment as an “aid to the civil power”, suggesting stationing a battalion each in district headquarters as striking force, and two to four platoons at upzila towns, EC sources said.
However, it said the army should not play any role inside the polling centres or vote counting rooms.
As there was no need to hold parliamentary polls in 154 constituencies, elections for the rest of the 146 seats would be held on January 5.
On December 10, the armed forces division sent a letter to the commission seeking around Tk27 crores for maintaining the law and order situation during the polls.
On November 28, the EC had held meeting with high officials of law enforcing agencies and was set to hold meetings with the returning officers and chief of law enforcement agencies 3pm Thursday.