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Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today called upon the Jatiya Oikyafront leaders elected in the 11th parliamentary election to take oath accepting people’s verdict.
“I still think that they (Oikyafront) would not dishonour the people’s verdict,” Quader made the call while addressing a press conference at AL President Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office in Dhaka this afternoon.
Claiming that BNP made a mistake by not taking part in the January 5, 2014 national election, Quader suggested the Oikyafront leaders not to recur the similar mistake by staying aside from the oath-taking.
BNP yesterday hinted that their leaders elected in the polls will not take oath as they have already rejected the results, alleging mass irregularities including ballot stuffing and ouster of their polling agents from voting centres.
However, Quader said, “This time, it is their (Oikyafront) own matter whether they are satisfied with the people’s verdict.” Quader said that their leaders have also won the election with the people’s mandates.
The Oikyafront yesterday in its formal reaction over the election announced that they would submit memorandum to the Election Commission on Thursday and announce next course of action programme to press home their demand.
Responding to a query in this regard, Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, said BNP does not have any preparation to wage a movement in the country.
“Did you (Journalist) see their (BNP leaders) faces yesterday how nerves and frustrated they were? They have lost their moral strength, how their workers can be rejuvenated by them?” he said.
Responding to a query over the government’s next challenges, he said the government’s main challenge is to implement the manifesto they placed before the election.
The Election Commission (EC) today sent a letter to the parliament secretary for taking necessary preparation to organise the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected lawmakers of the 11th general election.
EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said this while talking to reporters at the EC office today.
The MP-elect will take oath at the oathroom of the parliament at 11:00am tomorrow, sources at the Parliament Secretariat confirmed.
Yesterday, the commission published the gazette with details of 298 MPs with the EC’s approval.
According to the article 148 (2A) of the Constitution, the newly elected members of parliament will be obliged to take oath within three days after the publication of election results through official gazette, or else their memberships will cease to exit.
The new cabinet may take oath on Sunday.
In the December 30 parliamentary election, the AL-led Grand Alliance won 288 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad against the BNP-led Oikyafront's seven.
Three independent candidates also became victorious.
The election in Brahmanbaria-2 was suspended as voting at three polling centres was suspended over violence. Polling in those centres will be held on January 9.
Polls in Gaibanda-3 were rescheduled for January 27 following the death of a candidate.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said BNP has failed to plunge the December 30 national election into controversy even after knocking at the doors of its foreign friends.
“They (BNP) wrote letters to different countries to make the election questionable but their motive has gone in vain,” Quader, also the minister for Road Transport and Bridges, told reporters after visiting construction site of the second Kanchpur Bridge on Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet highways in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon upazila.
BNP also completely failed to ensure momentum of their anti-government movement as people did not take to the streets by responding their call, the Awami League leader said.
Replying to a query about BNP’s decision to refrain from participating in the upcoming upazila elections, the minister said no political parity can sustain without taking part in election.
He said the heads of different countries including UK and Switzerland welcomed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following the formation of government under her leadership for the fourth time.
Claiming that people would not throng the streets responding to the BNP’s call, Quader said BNP is engaged in negative politics and thus it will lose its foreign friends as well as the trust of the countrymen.
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”.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said she would not say anything about Sunday's national election.
She said this when reporters asked her about the election after a hearing of the Niko graft case at a makeshift court inside the Old Dhaka Central Jail.
As she was being taken back to her cell in a wheelchair, she said, “My legs ache too much.”
During the hearing, she told the court, “I won't come to the court if it sits at a place like this. The court can't run here. Our people can't come here. Give me sentence if you want….I won't come to this court.”
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka said, “Start the charge hearing afresh as I am new in this case. I will hear everyone's speech.”
After that, Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission Mosharraf Hossain Kajol read out the charges against Khaleda and 10 others.
BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, an accused in the case, told the court, “We are yet to get the documents stating the allegations against us although we have applied for them before. We need to read those documents to be able to fight the legal battle.”
He also said the setting of the court was not appropriate for holding a trial as there was no proper seating arrangement for lawyer and others.
Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol argued that the defense was trying to delay the charge framing by saying those things.
The court fixed January 13 for the next hearing.
The judge also kept a petition in the case file submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on November 22 last year seeking permission to produce an FBI agent and two Canadian police as witnesses before the court to testify.
On December 9, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing Khaleda and 10 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko.
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