Pro-govt doctors lead in BMA polls

The pro-Awami League Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad (Swachip) is leading in the biennial election of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) held on Thursday.
According to the results of 44 out of 67 centres across the country, including that of the capital, Swachip-backed president aspirant Mahmud Hasan got 11,482 votes, while Pro-BNP Doctors' Association of Bangladesh (DAB)-backed president aspirant AKM Azizul Haque bagged 6,308, said Abdur Rahman Khan, president of BMA Election Commission.
Swachip's secretary general candidate Iqbal Arslan got 10,652 votes, while DAB's candidate AZM Zahid Hossain 6,731 votes in the said centres.
The election commission, however, could not give detailed information about the other candidates contesting for different posts of the 41-member central executive committee.
As of 10:15pm yesterday, the BMA election commission had confirmed receiving results of 64 centres. The election commission chief said they had not calculated all the results received but it appeared to him that Swachip candidates were leading.
He said the final results of the election would be announced today at 4:00pm at a press conference in the BMA headquarters in Dhaka.
The total number of voters for the BMA election is 32,892, of which 13,338 are in Dhaka. Around 60 percent votes had been cast this year across the country. In Dhaka, 61 percent voters cast their votes, said the election commission chief.
Meanwhile, DAB leader AZM Zahid Hossain yesterday alleged that the election commission was delaying to publish the result, as they were manipulating it.
“It should not take so much time to publish the actual results,” he said.
Early yesterday, DAB leaders rejected the poll result over the allegation of rigging in different districts across the country including in Dhaka.
Swachip leader Iqbal Arslan claimed that DAB was looking for an excuse to boycott the election or to reject the result sensing defeat. It was a pre-planned decision.
Our Chittagong correspondent reports: The BMA election in Chittagong winded up in a messy situation. Supporters of two general secretary candidates exchanged heated and tore down the last ballot paper.
This last ballot paper was crucial, as according to the BMA election commission in Chittagong, Swachip's candidate Mohammad Sharif won for the post of general secretary by one vote. He bagged 1002 votes while his nearest candidate pro-Awami League rival candidate AMM Minhajur Rahman 1001.
Rahman and Sharif blamed each other for tearing down the last ballot paper at around 12:30am, early hours of Friday, while vote counting was on.
At around 5:00am, chief election commissioner of Chittagong Kazi Shafiqul Alam declared Mujibul Haq Khan and Mohammad Sharif as the president and general secretary respectively.
So far, Swachip leaders won all 23 posts in Chittagong, election commission sources said.
Meanwhile, the pro-Awami League rival candidate Rahman rejected the poll result and announced to file a case against the election commission. He urged the commission to withhold the result.