Two DCs transferred upon EC’s request ahead of JS polls

Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC) has said that its decision on transferring officers-in-charge (OCs) and upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) stemmed from the commissioners’ ground observations.

Response to a journalist’s question in a briefing, at the Agargaon Election Building Ashok Kumar Debnath, Additional Secretary of the EC Secretariat said this on Saturday.

Ashok Kumar Debnath also said, “This transfer will not cause any disruptions.”

However, two district deputy commissioners (DCs) were transferred yesterday ahead of the 12th national elections upon the Election Commission’s (EC) request.

Commenting on the issue, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath said the decision was taken in the wake of the commission’s request.

“If we don’t want to, there will be no transfer now. But, we wanted to transfer the Mymensingh DC.” EC Additional Secretary added.

During the media briefing, the EC additional secretary also informed 29 registered political parties have nominated 2,713 candidates for the upcoming national election.

The Election Commission (EC) is implementing measures to ensure the security of all candidates, including independent ones who have submitted their

nomination forms, the Additional Secretary of the EC secretariat added.

Earlier on Thursday (30 November), the Election Commission (EC) asked the government to transfer all the OCs and UNOs across the country ahead of the 12th national election.

According to a letter sent to the senior secretary of public security division, all the OCs who have completed more than six months of service at their current workplace should be transferred in the first phase.

The commission has additionally dispatched another letter to the Ministry of Public Administration, urging the transfer of UNOs who have served at their present workplace for over a year in the initial phase.

The letter stated that the commission took the step aiming to conduct the upcoming parliamentary election in a free and fair manner.

It has also noted that proposals for the transfer of OCs and UNOs in the first phase should be submitted to the EC by 5 December.

Meanwhile, the 12th Jatiya Sangsad election will be held on 7 January, the Election Commission announced on 15 November amid staunch objections from the opposition parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

Rejecting the election schedule, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi warned that the country was now headed towards an “inevitable conflict”.

The ruling Awami League welcomed the EC announcement, saying it goes in line with the constitution and elections will be held accordingly.