BNP wants fresh Dhaka city polls
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday demanded that the results of February 1 elections to Dhaka north and south city corporations should be annulled and there should be new elections to the two parts of Dhaka.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, speaking at a post-election press conference at Emanuel’s Banquet Hall in the city’s Gulshan, also claimed that only 7-9 per cent votes were cast in the city polls.
BNP mayoral candidates — Ishraque Hossain of Dhaka south city and Tabith Awal of Dhaka north city — gave their accounts of the elections saying that the election results in fact did not reflect the public opinion.
A documentary on the polling day, a compilation of video clippings grabbed by the party leaders and activists, reports broadcasted by different private television channels and reports of different national newspapers, was shown.
The documentary showed how the ruling party leaders and activists rigged votes, occupied polling centres, ousted BNP’s polling agents from election centres, forced voters to vote for AL candidates, jammed voters’ lines for hours in front of empty polling booths, committed violence and attacked opposition leaders and activists as well as journalists and flexed muscle during polling hours.
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It also showed how AL leaders and activists from outside Dhaka kept the polling centres guarded and complications arising out of the use of electronic voting machines, including many could not vote for their candidates for fingerprint mismatch.
In the documentary, it was alleged that the AL leaders, including the prime minister, ministers, members of parliament as well as the candidates had violated the electoral code of conduct.
Addressing the press conference, Fakhrul said, ‘We would like to clearly say that the people’s opinion was not reflected in the elections and the people could not cast their votes. That is why, we urge to cancel the polls’ results and hold new elections to the two cities.’
He said the voter presence in the election was very low as people had no confidence in the government and the Election Commission.
He alleged that the government has destroyed the country’s election system and all the democratic institutions to ‘restore’ one-party rule which AL could not establish in 1975 fully.
‘In past 10 to 12 years, it was proved that no election under the AL government can be fair. That is why we repeatedly demanded the national elections under a neutral government and an independent Election Commission,’ he said.
He said that restoring democracy was not possible without the release of Khaleda and she would be freed through democratic movement.
Tabith Awal said that the AL leaders and activists, according to their senior leaders’ direction, kept the polling centres occupied and that, in most of the cases the voters could not enter into the polling centres.
Ishraque Hossain alleged that he had to free the occupied polling centres from the AL activists and that when he left the centres, AL men again occupied them.
He alleged that the EC had announced ‘imaginary and fabricated’ results, and thus deprived the city voters form justice.
The mayoral candidate alleged that the police, administration, election officials and others related to the elections were seen helpless as they had instructions from the ‘high ups’.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
