Authorities generally deploy armed forces to help maintain law and order during parliamentary elections, but not during local government elections.
Relevant EC officials said that including the armed forces within the legal definition of law enforcement agencies in local government election laws would provide greater administrative flexibility.
Once the provision is present in law, officials will not need to issue separate orders to assign election duties to the three services.
In addition, members of the armed forces will be able to perform duty at polling stations alongside the police and will have the power to make arrests without warrants.
Relevant sources said that local government elections usually involve more clashes and violence than parliamentary elections. This year’s local government elections will be non-partisan.
As a result, multiple leaders of the ruling party may contest elections from the same constituency. There is also discussion on whether some Awami League leaders and workers, whose activities are banned, can contest the elections.
Overall, maintaining law and order can become a big challenge. Additionally, concerns remain over whether the police alone will be able to control the law and order situation during local government elections.