Govt officials continue 'Yes' campaign for referendum violating EC's no

As the referendum is approaching, the government has rolled out a nationwide public awareness campaign, according to officials of the Ministry of Public Administration, several district administrations and returning officers.

From the outset the government promoted "Yes." voting.  However, last week the Election Commission (EC) imposed restrictions barring those engaged in public service from carrying out explicit campaigning for either "Yes" or "No." vote.  

Despite the ban, campaign materials urging voters to cast "Yes" ballots were seen on Sunday afternoon in front of several Secretariat buildings, including Building No. 4 of the Ministry of Information and Information Department.

On January 18, a letter signed by Deputy Secretary Md Sarwar Morshed from the Office of the Chief Adviser instructed all ministries, divisions and departments to conduct extensive outreach among service recipients and general public to raise awareness about the 2026 referendum.

Under this directive, nearly two million government officials and employees-out of 1,919,211 sanctioned posts-were engaged in the awareness drive. Officials from the rank of secretary down to employees in grades 1 to 20 were tasked with explaining the referendum in simple language to educated, semi-literate and illiterate citizens alike.