There were no polling agents of main opposition parties anywhere throughout Dhaka. The Daily Star went about several constituencies in the capital, but could only find polling agents of Awami League everywhere wearing the badge of the ‘boat’.
The Daily Star visited Kakoli High School, Dhaka City College, Teachers’ Training College, Dhaka College, University Laboratory School and College, Dhanmondi Government Boys School and College, New Model School and College voting centres.
While plenty of ‘boat’ supporters were seen displaying badges, only the centre at Dhaka City College, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cast her vote, had one or two polling agents of ‘Tiger’ and ‘hand fan’ there.
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The Daily Star visited Mohammadpur Government Primary School, Mohammadpur Girls High School, Rayerbazar Community Centre, Shyamoli Ideal Technical Institue, and Primrose Kindergarden polling stations in the constituency which is witnessing electronic voting for the first time.
There too, no opposition polling agents could be seen anywhere. However, ruling party supporters and polling agents were found roaming around aplenty.
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The Daily Star visited Ispahani School, Viquarunnisa Noon School, and Tejgaon Govt Girls High School voting centres. No polling agents other than those from the ruling Awami League could be seen there in the morning.
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The Daily Star visited five polling centres including Rashid Ideal High School, Al Quran Academy, and Bangabndhu College to find only one polling agent of the ‘sheaf of paddy’ who did not seem very convincing.
Shafiqur Rahman, who claims to have been driven out of Bangabandhu College, alleged that false BNP polling agents were filled in Shahidbagh Girls School. "I was supposed to provide polling agents there. But this morning, it was already filled."
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Claiming the December 30 election to be “farcical”, Jatiya Oikyafront Convener Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday called for a national dialogue to find out ways for holding a fresh election as per the constitution.
“We had to witness a farce in the name of an election. It won't bring any legality and stability. This can, in no way, be accepted,” said the noted jurist.
He came up with these remarks while addressing a discussion organised by the Gonoforum at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, marking the historic Homecoming Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Dr Kamal, who presided over the discussion, urged all the political parties to sit for a dialogue in a bid to discuss the formation of an elected government by holding a fresh election as per the constitution.
Dr Kamal, who is also the president of the Gonoforum, said, “A sane person cannot play such a game with the country's 17 crore people. This can't be done unless a person is mentally imbalanced.”
He also questioned if there was anyone who could call the election a free and fair one.
“It's regrettable what happened in the name of election even after 48 years [of the country's independence]. It was not supposed to happen.”
The eminent jurist said the election was held on the night of December 29 instead of December 30.
“Why did they do that? I would like ask them what is the necessity of doing such an unusual act? Is it a game? Is it fair to play a game with the country's 17 crore people?”
Dr Kamal also said the December 30 election was a good example of political tricks. “I would like to request you, please refrain from resorting to political tricks and do everything through talks and as per the constitution. There can be no alternative to that.”
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President ASM Abdur Rob, Gonoforum Executive President Subrata Chowdhury, Gonoforum General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Gonoforum MP-elect Mukabbir Khan, Gonoforum leader Maj Gen (retd) Amsa Amin, also spoke among others in the discussion.
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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.
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The BNP has claimed that its allegation of “vote robbery” in the December 30 national election has now been proved to be true with the CEC's comment that the use of EVMs can prevent stuffing of ballot boxes the night before an election.
“The chief election commissioner has said the risk of stuffing ballot boxes the night before the voting will be reduced if EVMs are introduced. The truth about the election has started to emerge,” BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP's Nayapaltan central office, he said Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda could not hide the truth for long. “The CEC's slip of tongue has revealed the truth regarding the midnight election. His remark has demonstrated that the election was held at midnight as EVMs were not used.”
Addressing a training workshop of election officials at the city's Nirbachan Bhaban on Friday, the CEC had said the Election Commission was planning to use electronic voting machines to make sure that ballot boxes could not be stuffed on the night before an election.
Since the national election, the BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront have been accusing the Awami League of carrying out “vote robbery” by stuffing ballot boxes on December 29 midnight.
Stating that snatching people's voting rights was tantamount to robbery, Rizvi said the CEC “committed a serious offence by holding a midnight election only to keep the current government in power illegally”.
“Your [CEC] remarks will remain as an important document to people about how a chief election commissioner allowed stuffing ballot boxes at midnight in a national election, depriving people of their voting rights.”
The BNP leader questioned whether the CEC allowed the ruling party to stuff ballot boxes on the night of December 29 to justify the use of EVMs that were procured by spending crores of public money.
Rizvi warned the CEC that he would have to be accountable to people some day for the midnight voting.
He said the CEC was trying to use EVMs in the election as spending crores of taka was involved in it. “No machine is required for ensuring a fair election, as only sincerity and commitment to democracy is enough for it.”
Not only the CEC, but also an election commissioner carelessly talked about the midnight voting as the truth cannot be hidden, the BNP leader added.
Rizvi voiced deep concern as ailing BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was yet to be taken to hospital for treatment.
He demanded the government shift her to United Hospital for ensuring her proper treatment.
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Jatiya Oikyafront Convener Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday said it was a mistake on the part of his party Gonoforum to have joined the December 30 polls with Jamaat-e-Islami leaders contesting under the alliance banner.
He also said they would put pressure on the BNP to sever its ties with Jamaat in order to keep the unity of the Oikyafront intact and strong.
Dr Kamal made the statements following a meeting of his party's central committee at its office in the capital's Arambagh.
"I've already publicly said that I was not aware of Jamaat's participation in the election [under the banner of the Oikyafront]. When I gave consent [to contesting the polls under the alliance's banner], I was not informed about Jamaat. I think you can call it a mistake," he told journalists.
Around 70 leaders from the Gonoforum's central committee participated in its first meeting after the 11th parliamentary polls. It began at 10:00am and concluded around 3:45pm.
The meeting was organised to discuss the party's next course of action following the election.
The Awami League-led grand alliance won the polls bagging 288 out of the 299 seats. The election to the remaining seat of Gaibandha-3 will be held on January 27.
The Jatiya Oikyafront won eight seats, including six for the BNP and two for the Gonoforum.
Twenty-two Jamaat leaders contested the election with the “sheaf of paddy”, the BNP's electoral symbol.
One of the framers of the country's constitution, Dr Kamal had earlier been criticised for allowing Jamaat leaders to take part in the polls under Oikyafront's banner.
Jamaat-e-Islami had opposed the country's 1971 Liberation War and its top leaders were involved in crimes against humanity.
The BNP has claimed that whoever contested the election with the “sheaf of paddy” symbol were candidates of their party, not of Jamaat's.
The AL said that one of the reasons for the Oikyafront and the BNP's defeat in election with a margin so huge was that they allowed Jamaat leaders to participate in it.
Jatiya Oikyafront rejected the election results, alleging widespread polls irregularities and rigging. They also demanded fresh polls following a national dialogue with all stakeholders.
The AL rejected the demand.
After Gonoforum's meeting, Dr Kamal told reporters that he never did politics along with Jamaat and would not do so in the future either.
"My position is clear. We never did politics along with Jamaat nor [are we] thinking of doing so in the future. Whatever you've said about our politics involving Jamaat, we were not aware of it," he said.
When asked what the Gonoforum's position would be if the BNP did not sever its ties with the Jamaat, he said, “We will talk about it if it happens.”
Gonoforum General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu said their party forged the alliance with the BNP, not with the 20-party or the Jamaat.
He said, “We raised our objection when the 22 Jamaat leaders were nominated to contest the election with the 'sheaf of paddy'. The BNP's secretary general told us they [the Jamaat leaders] were nominated as BNP candidates.”
Asked whether his party's two elected MPs would take oath, Montu said they would discuss it and decide later.
At the meeting, he said their leaders discussed the post-election atmosphere and worked out their party's future course of action.
Montu said their leaders strongly believe that to wage a democratic movement in the days to come and to “restore democracy”, there was no other alternative to national unity.
Dr Kamal said there was no disagreement among the people regarding the formation of the parliament through a fair and acceptable election.
“No one apart from the ruling party spokesmen are saying that a fair election was held on December 30, while there is no scope for saying it. I don't think it's a big deal to resolve such a problem. The government should hold a fair election within two to three months, enabling everyone to cast votes in the interest of the country and the constitution.
“People should be given a chance so that they can cast their votes as per their will. If you get the majority of the votes in a fair election, it'll be meaningful. If a government is formed through a fair and credible election, it will be easier for it to discharge its duties properly.”
Speaking to The Daily Star, several Gonoforum leaders who were present at the meeting said they discussed the strengthening of the Oikyafront in such a manner that no one can “malign its reputation because of the Jamaat and the BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.”
The meeting also decided to hold its central council on March 23 and 24.
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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.
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