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The High Court yesterday rejected a writ petition that had challenged the legality of oath taking of the lawmakers elected in the December 30 polls.
A HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal passed the order considering that petition was not filed properly.
After the order, lawmakers elected in the 11th parliamentary polls have no bar to perform their duties, said Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.
Also read: HC order on petition against oath-taking of MPs today
On January 14, advocate Taherul Islam Tawhid filed the petition praying for a rule on the Election Commission and the government to explain why the oath taking should not be declared illegal.
The lawyer also sought necessary HC orders on the authorities concerned to prevent the new lawmakers from discharging their functions.
Meanwhile, petitioner's lawyer barrister AM Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that they would file a fresh writ petition with the HC challenging the same issue.
The tenure of the 10th parliament will expire on January 28 and new lawmakers will take charge on January 30.
Police evicted protesters demanding fresh election under a non-partisan caretaker government in front of Jatiya Press Club this morning.
Around 40 to 50 people under the banner of ‘National Unity for Franchise and Good Governance’ formed a human chain around 11:00am demanding re-election under a neutral caretaker government, our staff correspondent reports from the spot.
However, police evicted the protesters soon after they gathered there and snatched their banner, said ABM Mostofa Amin, the convener of the platform.
“We cannot accept the kind of rigging that took place in the 11th parliamentary elections. We demand a fresh election be held under a non-partisan caretaker government immediately,” he said.
He alleged that police foiled their peaceful demonstration with a “logical demand”.
THE ELECTION RESULT
The Awami League-led Grand Alliance secured a landslide victory in the national election held on Sunday, December 30, winning in 288 out of 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad.
HOW WAS THE ELECTION?
Voting for the 11th parliamentary election ended peacefully in Dhaka; but was tainted with violence elsewhere across the country and cost the lives of at least a dozen people.
Reports of casualties came in from Cumilla, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar, Bogura, Noakhali, Narsingdi and Gazipur.
Allegations of vote rigging, election clashes, intimidation and irregularities came in from several other constituencies and capital Dhaka city.
Also, the election saw opposition candidates boycotting elections in at least 43 constituencies; 42 of who were Jatiya Oikyafront runners.
Leading Indian newspapers editorially commented today on the outcome of parliamentary elections in Bangladesh saying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's return to power is "good news" for relations with India, but cautioned against her government's "authoritarian" strait.
Hindustan Times termed Awami League's landslide victory in parliamentary polls as "stunning" and The Times of India described it as "massive" while The Hindu opined Hasina "remains immensely popular" on the back of a "formidable record of economic growth and social progress."
The editorial in Hindustan Times said "in the last decade of her rule, Ms Hasina has had a mixed track record. While Bangladesh's economy has surged ahead, her record on human rights leaves a lot to be desired."
"Even as Bangladesh is on the brink of shedding its tag of least developed country, the government has crushed all opposition forces in that country. Ms Hasina's regime has harassed journalists, arrested opposition leaders and remained passive to the killing of bloggers," it said adding "New Delhi would do well to quietly remind her from time to time to keep her authoritarian instincts in check."
The Times of India editorial said "it cannot be denied that Hasina remains a hugely popular and under her Bangladesh's economy has posted strong growth …and the country is poised to join the developing countries category by 2024."
It also said "Hasina and the Awami League have a secular vision for Bangladesh …Additionally, the Awami League dispensation has cracked down hard against Islamists and local terror cells. Plus, the ties between India and Bangladesh have soared under Hasina…"
Pointing out that "Hasina's return at the helm of Bangladesh should further aid New Delhi and Dhaka ties," the Times of India said "one of the issues the opposition campaigned on, justifiably, was the increasing authoritarian ways of the Awami League government. Hasina would do well to redress this quickly. Failing to do so would provide scope for the Islamists to stage a comeback."
The Hindu commented that the Awami League "set the agenda for the election and dominated the campaign. Still, the scale of the victory would have taken even her supporters by surprise."
However, it said "the government and the Election Commission could have held the election without being open to charges that it was manipulated" and asked the Election Commission to "conduct a fair investigation into allegations of rigging to restore faith in the poll process."
"There was a crackdown on the opposition in the run-up to polling day. Pro-opposition websites were taken down, thousands of activists were jailed, and political violence was unleashed to target BNP members. The situation was so grave that even one of the election commissioners said there was no level playing field. …Her otherwise impressive record has been marred by her government's authoritarian character.
"The (election) victory is a chance for Ms. Hasina to mend her ways, to be more inclusive and run a government that respects the rule of law, the basic rights of citizens and institutional freedom," The Hindu said.
It added that "For India, Ms. Hasina's victory is good news. New Delhi and Dhaka have deepened economic, security and strategic ties under her leadership. This should continue, no matter what the general election outcome in India in 2019."
The editorial in The Economic Times said the Hasina government's "strong arm measures that give the discredited opposition the chance to cry foul were eminently avoidable."
It said "the shrinking political presence of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which backs Islamists, will ensure that the country becomes far less hospitable to Islamists."
The newspaper said Sheikh Hasina's electoral victory "is important for New Delhi in the context of countering China's influence in the region. India must continue to partner Bangladesh in its economic growth, encouraging Indian companies to invest and working together in climate change, terrorism, migration and energy."
Awami League today congratulated the Election Commission for holding a “wonderful, free and fair national election”.
An Awami League delegation led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Advisor HT Imam also conveyed a message to the Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda saying that people will have more confidence on the EC after the national election held on December 30.
“We came to the commission to felicitate them on completing a wonderful election,” HT Imam told reporters after holding a meeting with the CEC at Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka’s Agargaon.
"No other elections of the past were so disciplined and well coordinated and the EC performed its constitutional duties wonderfully," he said.
“People will have more confidence on the EC now. The way we are getting recognition from aboard after the election, which has made us proud,” he added.
When his attention was drawn on Jatiya Oikyafront and BNP’s demand of fresh election under neutral government, HT Imam said, “New election is not possible. Demand of caretaker government is an old one. So discussion on that issue will not be fruitful.”
The EC certainly will take necessary steps if there have been any irregularities during election, he further said.
International media widely covered yesterday's national election that saw deadly clashes and accusations of vote rigging.
In a news report, the Associated Press said it received more than 50 calls from people across Bangladesh, who identified themselves as opposition supporters.
They complained of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths, it mentioned.
"Hasina's use of the state machinery to subjugate the opposition virtually ensures her electoral victory," Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a South Asia analyst for the New York-based Eurasia Group, told AP.
Minutes before the polls opened, a BBC correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre in Chittagong city. The presiding officer declined to comment.
Only the ruling party's polling agents were present there and several other polling centres in the port city.
BBC's South Asia Regional Editor Anbarasan Ethirajan said if the opposition's claims of widespread vote rigging are proved, then it will likely to raise questions over the credibility of the election process and the legitimacy of the new government, according to a BBC report.
The Guardian in its report headlined “Bangladesh opposition reject 'farcical' election and demand new vote”, mentioned that dozens of candidates pulled out, claiming the ruling Awami League rigged the country's first contested election in a decade.
The Election Commission told Reuters that it was investigating allegations of vote rigging coming from across the country.
“Allegations are coming from across the country and those are under investigation,” SM Asaduzzaman, a spokesman for the EC, told the news agency.
The Economic Times of India reported that the voting in a tense election to choose a new government in Bangladesh ended amid allegations of manipulations by ruling party men.
The Times of India highlighted the introduction of EVMs in six parliamentary constituencies for the first time in a general election, a move which received mixed responses from the voters amid reports of glitches at some booths.
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