Jatiya Oikyafront, in its election manifesto, promised that the price of electricity and gas will not be hiked in the first year if they are voted to power.
Electricity price will not increase in the next five years for consumers using the highest of 100 units a month, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener of Nagorik Oikya and a leader of the Oikyafront, said while reading out the manifesto at a press briefing at a hotel in Dhaka.
Rural, small and cottage industries and all public and private hospitals will get electricity at concessionary domestic household price instead of commercial rate, Manna said.
WHAT IS JATIYA OIKYAFRONT?
The Jatiya Oikyafront is an alliance of the BNP, Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, ASM Abdur Rob’s Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s Nagorik Oikya.
The Oikyafront was formed on October 13 with the demands of a national election under a neutral government after dissolution of parliament and release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.
WHAT ARE OIKYAFRONT’S AGENDAS?
Formed with major political oppositions to ruling alliance, the Oikyafront includes ruling Awami League’s arch opposition BNP.
Currently, they are campaigning with a seven-point charter including freedom for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and election under a nonpartisan government.
WHAT ARE OIKYAFRONT’S DEMANDS?
The 11-point goal announced by the alliance includes ensuring checks and balances in the state power, decentralisation of administration, freeing MPs from the stringent restrictions imposed on them under article 70 of the constitution, formation of a constitutional commission to make appointments to all constitutional and other important posts and full independence of the judiciary.
The alliance also announced a seven-point demand, including the one for holding the next parliamentary election under a nonpartisan government, dissolution of parliament before the polls and reconstitution of the Election Commission.
Related News
Body:
Two lawmakers-elect of the Gonoforum may take oath and join the 11th parliament, Dr Kamal Hossain said yesterday.
"We've rejected the election, but the way our two candidates came out successful in such an election through competition is their big achievement. So, we're thinking positively about sending them to parliament," said the Gonoforum chief.
He was addressing a press briefing at Bangladesh Shishu Kalyan Parishad after an extended meeting of the party.
Later, Gonoforum leader Sultan Mohammad Munsur, who was elected from Moulvibazar-2, told this correspondent that he and his party colleague Mukabbir Khan, elected from Sylhet-2, will take oath as lawmakers of 11th parliament.
Gonoforum is a key component of the Jatiya Oikyafront, which earlier had termed the parliamentary polls a farce and demanded the Election Commission immediately hold a fresh election under a nonpartisan interim government.
“We reject this so-called result. At the same time, we demand fresh polls under a nonpartisan government,” Dr Kamal, also convener of the Oikyafront, told the press hours after the polling was over at 4:00pm on December 30.
The BNP, another major component of the Oikyafront, said the next day that its leaders elected in the 11th parliamentary polls will not take oath as they have already rejected the results.
The party took the decision at a meeting of its standing committee alleging various irregularities and violations, including ballot stuffing and ouster of opposition polling agents, from voting centres.
Contacted yesterday, Mirza Fakhrul refused to make any comment on the Gonoforum's latest position.
“I am in Noakhali and I am not aware of any such decision. That's why I don't want to make any comment on this,” Fakhrul told this correspondent.
Another Oikyafront leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, who is also coordinator of Nagorik Oikya, told The Daily Star that the alliance leaders will sit at 11:00am today to decide whether its MPs-elect will take oath.
This is the first time any Gonoforum leader won in the national election since formation of the party in 1999.
At yesterday's briefing, Dr Kamal said the two leaders of the party can play a positive and meaningful role in parliament after taking oath.
“If others think it won't be possible for them to play a good role in parliament, they may take a decision in line with that thinking.”
In reply to a query, Dr Kamal said he thinks it will not create any problem with the BNP if the two MPs-elect take oath.
“I think the Jatiya Oikyafront will remain intact to create pressure on the government,” he said.
“We've formed the Oikyafront so that we can realise our demand for a free and fair election. We believe that if Oikyafront functions effectively, we'll be able to mount pressure on the government over the election and force it to discharge its duties obeying laws.”
The Gonoforum chief said that in principle, the party is in favour of keeping the unity and will take a positive decision in this regard after discussions.
He added that the Oikyafront has kept its movement on and it may be intensified further in the days to come.
Replying to a question, he said they may move the court over the election if they get the evidence of serious Electoral fraud.
In the December 30 polls, 280 candidates of Oikyafront and BNP-led 20-party alliance ran with BNP's electoral symbol “sheaf of paddy”.
The Oikyafront managed to win only seven seats and two of those were bagged by Gonoforum candidates.
The AL-led grand alliance secured 288 seats. JP, a key component of the alliance, bagged 22. Independent candidates got three.
The election in Gaibandha-3 constituency was rescheduled for January 27 following the death of a candidate, and re-polling will take place in three centres in Brahmanbaria-2 on January 9.
Gonoforum leader Mukabbir Khan had initially quit the race as he was denied nomination from the Oikyafront.
The alliance nominated missing BNP leader Ilias Ali's wife Tahsina Rushdir Luna. But she lost her candidacy following a High Court order.
It then called back Mukabbir to contest in the election as BNP candidate. He contested the polls with Gonoforum's electoral symbol “rising sun”.
Munsur won from Moulvibazar-2 with BNP's symbol “sheaf of paddy”.
On October 13, BNP and three other political parties formally launched an alliance called Jatiya Oikyafront, around two months before the national election.
The alliance unveiled an 11-point goal and promised to bring sweeping reforms in governance system if voted to power.
Three other components of the alliance are Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) led by ASM Abdur Rob, Manna's Nagorik Oikya, and Krishak Sramik Janata League led by Kader Siddique.
Rob and Kader could not be reached for comments.
At yesterday's briefing, Gonoforum General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu in a written statement described the way the December 30 election was manipulated and rigged.
So, he said, those declared winner by the Election Commission were not actually “elected”.
Body:
The Jatiya Oikyafront yesterday demanded that the Election Commission immediately scrap the “farcical election” and hold a fresh one under a nonpartisan interim government.
“We reject this so-called result. At the same time, we demand fresh polls under a nonpartisan government,” Oikyafront leader Dr Kamal Hossain said at a press conference at his house in the capital.
Reading out a written statement, the eminent jurist said the news of “vote robbery” came from almost all constituencies.
Responding to a query from a journalist, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said yesterday's election proved that free and fair polls were not possible under a partisan government.
“This also proves that our decision to boycott the parliamentary elections in 2014 was right.”
Kamal said the Oikyafront would hold a meeting today to devise its strategy. The alliance's ongoing movement “to institutionalise democracy” would continue, he added.
Apart from the Oikyafront, the Left Democratic Alliance, comprised of eight left-leaning parties, and the Ganasamhati Andolon rejected the polls and demanded a reelection.
51 BOYCOTT POLLS
As many as 49 BNP and two independent candidates boycotted polls during voting yesterday, bringing allegations of vote rigging, stuffing ballots and forcing polling agents out of centres by the ruling party men.
Other allegations include capturing of polling stations by AL men, rigging votes and barring voters from exercising their franchise.
However, the BNP didn't boycott the polls as a party.
Out of the 49 candidates, 22 are Jamaat leaders who ran on BNP's ticket.
In some districts, almost all the opposition candidates boycotted the polls. In Bagerhat, all four BNP nominees abstained from the election.
Eight out of 11 BNP candidates in Mymensingh boycotted the election. In Khulna, five out of six BNP and Oikyafront candidates opted to stay out.
Faridpur and Jhenidah saw three out of four BNP nominees boycotting the polls in each of the districts.
Jamaat leader Mia Golam Parwar, who ran on BNP's ticket in Khulna-5, first announced that he was boycotting the election over “barring voters from entering polling centres, arresting his party men and the returning officer's inaction”.
Around the same time, Shama Obayed boycotted the polls in Faridpur-2 alleging that AL men stuffed ballots in 100 out of 123 polling centres on Saturday night.
“My polling agents went to the polling centres, but they were forced to leave the centres by police and ruling party men,” the BNP nominee told The Daily Star.
Shama also said she even didn't cast her own vote in protest.
In Dhaka-1, independent candidate Salma Islam boycotted the polls around noon.
Speaking at a press conference at her house in Nababganj's Jamarkhola area, she said she stayed out of the election as it was “rigged”.
Andaleeve Rahman Partha, BNP candidate for Dhaka-17, boycotted the polls around 2:00pm citing that some 600 of his polling agents were forced out of the centres and assaulted by AL men.
JAMAAT BOYCOTTS POLLS
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami in a press statement yesterday said its leaders, who contested the polls with “sheaf of paddy”, boycotted the election.
Terming the election “a farce”, it demanded cancellation of the polls.
BNP's Mirza Abbas and his wife Afroza Abbas boycotted the polls in Dhaka-8 and 9 alleging that voters were deprived of casting their votes. The couple also refrained from exercising their franchise.
Speaking at a press conference at his Shahjahanpur home, Abbas said, “Such an election is not needed in the country in which people cannot cast their votes. We are rejecting the election result.”
Independent candidate in Kurigram-4 Imran H Sarker, also spokesperson of Ganajagaran Mancha, alleged that AL men were casting fake votes in Chilmari's Nayarhat and Astamir Char areas.
COMPLAINT LODGED WITH EC
Around noon, a BNP delegation in a written complaint informed the EC that its polling agents were obstructed from entering polling centres in 221 constituencies.
“Our polling agents are being intimidated and obstructed from entering voting stations. In some cases, they are being driven away from the polling stations or being arrested,” BNP Joint Secretary General Moazzem Hossain Alal, who led the delegation to the EC, told reporters.
He said they received the information from reliable sources. There were similar complaints from other constituencies as well, but those came from unconfirmed sources, he added.
Alal alleged that AL activists were committing irregularities with the help of law enforcers.
The BNP submitted the complaint, signed by party National Election Conducting Committee Chairman Nazrul Islam Khan, to the chief election commissioner.
Alal said voters were not being allowed to enter polling stations in many places and women were being asked to vote for AL candidates.
The party also accused the AL of stamping ballots the night before the polling day in more than half of the 299 constituencies.
“Ballots were being stamped with the help of law enforcement agencies and polling and administration officials,” the BNP said in its complaint.
Body:
Jatiya Oikyafront’s leader Dr Kamal Hossain today urged law enforcers against following unlawful orders.
Bringing allegation that the government has taken total control of police and administration, he said, “I have never seen such a situation in my life.”
Kamal, also the president of Gonoforum, was addressing a press briefing just before Jatiya Oikyafront’s manifesto was unveiled at a city hotel in Dhaka.
“Our candidates are arrested everywhere. Not even one of our candidates has been spared from attack and harm,” he claimed.
Dr Kamal also recast a shadow of doubt over the fairness of the upcoming polls.
“Ensure the polls are held in the way the public wants,” Dr Kamal urged everyone.
If fair and credible polls are not held then the country will be pushed into a terrifying situation, Dr Kamal said.
The veteran leader also echoed the statement of students’ who were protesting for safer roads and said “this country needs to be repaired.”
Body:
Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today thanked Dr Kamal Hossain for realising the "mistake" that Jatiya Oikyafront had made by incorporating Jamaat-e-Islami in the recent 11th parliamentary election.
"I would like to thank Dr Kamal Hossain for realising their political mistake," Minister Hasan said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.
Oikyafront Convener Dr Kamal yesterday said it was a mistake on the part of his party Gonoforum to have joined the December 30 polls with Jamaat leaders contesting under the alliance banner.
Hasan Mahmud further said that the JOF will make another mistake if their elected candidates do not take the oath to join the 11th Parliament.
"I hope they will realise it and join the parliament by taking the oath of office," said the minister.
"A party is trying to drag the country backwards. I think no conspiracy against the country will work," he said.
Responding to a question about the recently enacted Digital Security Act, he said that the government will work on it so that no panic remains among the journalists about the act.
"I always welcome all types of criticism. When I was the Environment Minister, English daily The Daily Star published several reports criticising the ministry, even they published cartoons. But, we gave them an environment award. Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) was also awarded although they had criticised the ministry," said the minister.
Mentioning that criticism speeds up anyone's journey, the minister said, "But, blind and one-sided criticism is not useful. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has introduced the culture of welcoming any criticism."
"This time, Awami League has pledged that the country's villages will be turned into cities. Coordinated efforts are required to move the country forward. Mass media also play a vital role in this effort," said Hasan Mahmud.
He also said that a huge revolution has been made not only in the country's online media but also in print, electronic and social media.
"Around 8 crore people are using social media," he mentioned.
Body:
Krishak Sramik Janata League has walked out of Jatiya Oikyafront alleging that the alliance failed to wage movement against the government.
The party President Kader Siddique made the announcement at a press conference in the capital Dhaka this morning.
Kader blamed the Oikyafront leaders for their inactive role and failure to wage movement against the government.
The Oikyafront, which was formed before the last parliamentary election, could not play any role in waging anti-government movement for gas price hike and such other current issues, he said.
However, he vowed to carry out movement through forming a new platform for establishing the people’s right to vote.
The Jatiya Oikyafront is an alliance of BNP, Gonoforum, Nagorik Oikya, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) and some other political parties.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
