Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed, Orchid Chakma, Prabir Das, Amran Hossain, Sk Enamul Haq
Snapshots of Polls Day
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BNP leaders elected in the 11th parliamentary polls will not take oath as they have already rejected the results, alleging various irregularities including ballot stuffing and ouster of opposition polling agents from voting centres.
The party rather demands a re-election under a non-partisan interim administration, saying it has been proved that a free and fair election is not possible under a partisan government.
The BNP took the decisions in principle at a meeting of its standing committee at the party chairperson's Gulshan office, a day after the polls saw it win five seats while its ally Gonoforum two.
Replying to a query whether the lawmakers-elect from the BNP will take oath, party's General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “We have rejected the polls results. We will also continue our legal battle and action programmes.”
Fakhrul, who secured Bogura-6 constituency, said this election proved that a credible election is not possible under any partisan government.
“The government using state machinery conducted such a farcical election that I think it is the most stigmatised election in the country ever,” he said at a press conference after the standing committee meeting.
He also alleged that most of the new voters were denied their right to vote on Sunday.
In a press statement, Gonoforum chief Dr Kamal Hossain said all the opposition candidates, including those of Jatiya Oikyafront, will submit memorandum to the Election Commission on Thursday demanding fresh polls.
They will also announce their next course of programme on that day.
“Countrymen witnessed and perceived it well how a farcical drama was staged in the name of election on December 30,” read the statement.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League and its loyal Election Commission have shown the world how to destroy the election system of an independent and sovereign country.”
Dr Kamal said though the polls results show the ruling Awami League is the winner, actually 17 crore people of Bangladesh have lost. “Through it our much expected democracy has been buried.”
'MOST BIASED PERSON'
Terming Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda the most biased person, Fakhrul said, “He [Huda] is a partisan person and his activities were questioned .... his view reflects the government's. He represents the government.”
At a post-election press conference yesterday, CEC Huda ruled out the opposition demand for a fresh election scrapping Sunday's parliamentary polls.
Fakhrul came down heavily on the CEC also for his comment that what can he do if BNP's agents do not come to the polling centres.
“This government using the state machinery barred our polling agents from going to polling centres. In my constituency, there were 100 percent presence of our polling agents but they were driven out.”
He said the party is now collecting all the evidence of vote rigging and then “we will move forward after talking with alliance partners”.
Alleging that “election engineering” was planned days ahead of the polls, he said its implementation began on December 29, the day before the election.
“Many now question why we participated in the election even after arrest of and attacks on the opposition leaders and activists,” Fakhrul said.
Explaining his party's position, he said, “We want to say clearly that we are a democratic political party and believe in transfer of power through peaceful election. We participated in the election to have democracy restored.”
Alleging that ruling party activists launched attacks on the opposition men after the election, Fakhrul said, “After the election, houses of opposition leaders and activists were attacked and set on fire.”
He claimed that since the announcement of election schedule, more than 21,000 opposition leaders and activists were arrested.
The United Kingdom has urged the Bangladesh authorities for a full, credible and transparent resolution of all complaints related to the conduct of the December 30 general elections.
“While I welcome the participation of all opposition parties in these elections, I am aware of credible accounts of obstacles, including arrests, that constrained or prevented campaigning by opposition parties, and of irregularities in the conduct of elections on polling day that prevented some people from voting,” said British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field.
He came up with the comments in a press statement yesterday following the announcement of the unofficial results for the 11th Parliamentary Elections in Bangladesh.
“I deplore the acts of intimidation and unlawful violence that have taken place during the campaign period, and am deeply concerned by the incidents that led to so many deaths on polling day. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones,” the British minister said in the statement.
My statement on #Bangladesh’s general election: https://t.co/RsP0Lz1p4q
— Mark Field MP (@MarkFieldUK) January 1, 2019
Terming free, fair, peaceful, and participatory elections essential to any functioning democracy, Minister Field said, “It is vital for the government and all political parties to now work together to address differences and find a way forward in line with the interests of the people of Bangladesh”.
Mentioning that the UK has a broad and important partnership with Bangladesh, and a significant Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK, Mark Field added, “We will continue to support the people of Bangladesh in their aspirations for a more stable, prosperous, and democratic future”.
Faster internet service has been switched back on 37 hours into its suspension.
The 3G and 4G service have been resumed at 10:00am, a spokesperson with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) told The Daily Star this morning.
Most of the private telecommunications operators also confirmed about it.
The services were switched off at 9:00pm on December 30 (election day) three hours after restoring the mobile internet.
During the period, people were not able to use the internet on their phones, stream or upload pictures or videos.
This the third time the telecom regulator shut down the 3G and 4G services in last two days.
According to the BTRC, there were 8.78 crore active internet connections in the country as of June this year and mobile phone connections accounted for 93.43 per cent.
As of November of 2018, over 6 crore people are currently using the 3G and 4G mobile internet.
According to BTRC data, there were 57.35 lakh broadband connections in November.
On December 26, the BTRC in a meeting with the International Internet Gateway representatives said social media sites, especially Facebook, would be blocked if needed.
BTRC in the night of the following day slowed down mobile internet by shutting down 3G and 4G services. However, the service was restored on Friday morning 10 hours into its suspension.
A group of foreign and local election observers, who monitored the December 30 parliamentary election, has termed the election free, fair, peaceful and on a par with major democratic countries in the world.
The foreign observers from Canada, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, who came to Bangladesh at the invitation of Election Monitoring Forum (EMF) and SAARC Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), also said the just concluded election was “much better” than past elections in Bangladesh and could be a “glowing example for other democratic countries”.
The foreign observers were speaking at a press conference held at Jatiya Press Club yesterday to share what they have seen during their daylong visit to nine polling centres in the capital on Sunday.
“This was a world standard election…We can compare this with the elections of major democratic countries,” said former president of Kolkata Press Club, Kamal Bhattacharya.
The senior journalist told Bangladeshi media that he had covered two past elections in Bangladesh as a reporter, and this time he came as an observer.
“I talked to a number of voters standing in queues and inside polling centres and no one told me they faced any threat, harassment or intimidation,” he said.
He said voters had trust and confidence in the Election Commission and authorities concerned that they would follow the best practices in the election; the arrangements helped voters to cast their votes smoothly and with safety.
Another observer from Nepal, Advocate Mohamadin Ali, said Bangladesh has set the best example of a high standard election.
Former minister and member of Nepal Communist Party, Hakikullah Musalman, said he was immensely impressed to see such a peaceful, disciplined and orderly election in Bangladesh.
Speaking at the press conference, Prof Mohammed Abed Ali, executive director of Election Monitoring Forum, informed that the forum is an association of 31 organisations and 26 NGOs registered under the Election Commission.
He said they deployed 5,765 observers in 214 constituencies out of 299, who visited 17,165 centres. Abed Ali said it was a peaceful election and it was far better than previous ones.
Director General of External Publicity Wing of the Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood; Canadian observers Tania Dawn Foster and Chally Foster; Nepalese Communist Party member and former MP Nazir Mia; lawyer of Kolkata Judge Court Gautom Ghosh; writer and researcher from Sri Lanka Mohammed Ehsan Iqbal; and SAARC Human Rights Foundation's director Masum Chowdhury were also present at the press conference.
The national election of December 30 has turned the life of Mofiz Uddin upside down -- and all for supporting BNP.
From a decent tea-shop vendor at Rabeya market of Bonkishore village in Rajshahi's Tanore upazila, the 48-year old man now works on a potato field.
“I have been a dedicated BNP worker since the 90s,” Mofiz said. “If I have committed a crime, it would be my engagement with BNP.”
In a tin-roofed earthen room under a Koroi tree at the market, Mofiz started the shop and ran it for over the last 20 years.
Furnished with a television, eight chairs, five tables, four benches and a few racks of bakery items, sweets and groceries, his tea-shop fetched him around Tk 3,000 a day to support his family of seven.
On December 21, Mofiz joined the election campaign for BNP candidate Aminul Haq when the latter went to Pachondor union.
Later that evening, a group of stick wielding men went to the market and ransacked the outside of his tea-shop, according to eye-witnesses.
“The attackers were outsiders, not known to me,” said a local businessman.
“I heard about the attack on my shop when I reached home, after campaigning that day,” said Mofiz. A friend of his called him from the market and told him to hide as the attackers were looking for him.
Until polls day, local AL men used the tea-shop as the election office of Awami League candidate Omor Faruk Chowdhury.
“Two days after the election ended, some local AL workers damaged what was left of the shop, including the earthen room, tin-roof, furniture, television, and everything else inside.”
Locals told this correspondent that they heard the AL men would build a party office in that place.
When contacted, Reaz Uddin, president of AL unit at Pachondor ward-2, said, “We are yet to decide on building our office there. If not an office, we may construct a passengers' shed that will come to the use of many.”
He said the land was 'khas' and Mofiz had been illegally occupying it.
On the identity of the attackers, he said, “Nobody knows them. They were wearing helmets and came to the village on motorcycles.”
He denied that it was local AL men who had damaged the shop after the election.
“It was Mofiz's brother, nephew and son who damaged the shop,” he said. On why Mofiz's own relatives would damage the shop, Reaz did not have an explanation.
When contacted, Rajshahi Superintendent of Police Md Shahidullah said they had not heard about the incident.
“We will investigate all allegations of post-election violence,” said the SP, adding that police circulated a message in the district so that no one would spread fear among others over feuds during the election.
Upon losing his source of income, Mofiz began work as day labourer on the potato fields to make ends meet, earning a mere Tk 300 a day.
“I am living in fear. I could not even go see the condition of my shop, the one I so dearly built from scratch,” he said.
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