Bangladesh EC secretary rules out security concerns, assures smooth polling on Feb 12

Dhaka [Bangladesh], February 10 (ANI): As Bangladesh moves closer to polling day for its national parliamentary elections, election authorities, political candidates, and researchers have outlined key developments around voting schedules, campaign activity, and the broader political climate.
Senior Secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed outlined the voting timeline and addressed concerns related to security and misinformation ahead of polling.
Speaking to ANI, Akhtar Ahmed said, "They will start casting their vote from 7.30 in the morning of the 12th, and that's all." He added, "So let's wait till 7.30 in the morning of February 12, and they start casting their vote."
On voter statistics, he said, "I will have to look into the statistics. I am sorry. I just don't remember the statistics right at this moment," adding that the details could be shared later if required.
Addressing security-related concerns, Akhtar Ahmed said, "From my point of view, from my understanding, there is no security hazard. No security concern. No security questions. Everything is in order."
He also flagged concerns related to misinformation, saying, "I do not say it's a fear; it is a concern. Because misinformation and disinformation are always available in society, and they can create problems. It's not a fear. This is a concern."
As the voting date approaches, political campaigning across Bangladesh has entered its final phase, with candidates intensifying outreach efforts through door-to-door visits, rallies, public addresses, and the widespread display of posters and banners.
Under Bangladesh's election laws, official campaigning ends 48 hours before voting begins. With polling scheduled to start at 7.30 am on February 12, campaigning is set to conclude at 7.30 pm on February 10.
In the final hours of campaigning, Bobby Hajjaj, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate for the Dhaka-13 constituency, expressed optimism about voter participation.
Speaking to ANI, Hajjaj said, "We literally have only a few more hours, so we are trying our best to do as much as we can in the last few hours of the election campaign. It has been wonderful so far. We have been able to connect with the public, and the public has shown a great deal of enthusiasm because it has been almost two decades. Gen Z, or the younger generation, has no experience of voting because their voting rights were restricted for almost the last two decades. We are hopeful for the future."
The election is also taking place amid wider political debates following the July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh. A research report released in Dhaka examined the political and ideological shifts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
The report, titled "Rupture, Reform, and Reimagining Democracy: Navigating the Agony of Transition," was published by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development.
Explaining the findings, Mirza M Hassan, one of the authors, said the uprising did not bring the deep structural transformation that many had expected.
He said, "We thought there would be a change in the political order in terms of the party system, reforms, and massive changes in the elite structure. That didn't happen. Rather, we saw a chaotic situation, a weak interim government that couldn't control the mobocracy or promote the democratic aspirations of the people. In that sense, it would be an exaggeration to call it a rupture." (ANI)