One day before the Bangladesh elections to be held on Thursday, Police Inspector Baharul Alam deployed nearly one million officers to protect 8,700 potentially vulnerable polling stations.
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In Dhaka alone, the Metropolitan Police have mobilized 26,515 officers, supported by SWAT units, bomb disposal teams, and K-9 units.
The operation seeks to avoid violence following the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, in a student uprising that left 1,400 dead and generated political instability.
International human rights organizations demanded that the leader of the Interim Government, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, guarantee the protection of voters and respect for fundamental rights during the elections.
Shops and textile factories closed in Dhaka, prompting an exodus to rural areas so that the 127 million eligible voters could cast their ballots in a process marked by political tension.
Voters will choose between the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami Party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and an 11-party alliance led by the National Citizens Party (NCP), which emerged from the July 2024 uprising.
Since January, the European Union has deployed an election observation mission, led by Member of the European Parliament Ivars Ijabs, with 200 international observers monitoring the electoral process.
The EU mission will monitor for intimidation, violence, and disinformation, with 56 observers present in 64 districts and another 90 during the voting counting process.
[ SOURCE: TELESUR]
