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A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday filed a writ petition with the High Court, challenging the oath-taking of lawmakers elected in the December 30 polls last year.
Advocate Md Taherul Islam Tawhid submitted the petition to the HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal.
Earlier in the day, another HC bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir Lytton refused to permit Advocate Taherul to move the same petition before it, saying that the petition is “premature” as all the elected lawmakers are yet to take oath, Barrister Saqeb Mahbub, a lawyer for the petitioner, told The Daily Star.
He also said the writ petition might be filed and moved today before the bench led by Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury.
Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon appeared for the petitioner seeking permission from the HC benches to file and move the petition before the court.
Citing the petition, Barrister Shanjid Siddique, another lawyer for the petitioner, told this newspaper that oath-taking of the persons elected in 11th national polls violated articles 123(3) and 148(3) of the constitution, as the tenure of the 10th parliament is yet to expire.
Election Commission (EC) Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed today said the 11th parliamentary election held on Sunday will remain as a ‘bright example’ in national life.
“This is a huge event in the history of Bangladesh as the voting to the 11th parliamentary election took place in a very free, fair and peaceful environment under a political government,” he told reporters at the EC Secretariat here on the outcomes of the election.
He said many local and foreign observers have expressed their satisfaction over the voting.
Helal said the Awami League-led Grand Alliance gained a massive victory in this election to run the government for a straight three terms.
He also informed the media that so far the results to some 298 constituencies out of 300 have been announced since the election to three centres at Brahmanbaria-2 has been withheld. “There’ll be re-voting in these three centres.”
In Gaibandha-3 constituency polling was postponed as Dr ATM Fazle Rabbi of BNP-led 20-party alliance candidate died of old-age complications.
The EC Secretary extended gratitude to all the political parties, including Awami League, for taking part in this election amid festivity.
He said the Commission was taking preparations over the last one year to hold the election in a successful way and in this process they prepared voters list, completed delimitation of 300 constituencies, appointed the returning officers and assistant returning officers after announcement of the polls schedule, and held meetings with political parties.
Helal Uddin said about 15 lakh polling officials and members of law enforcement agencies were engaged to help hold the election in a free and fair manner with the participation of some 39 political parties and 1,846 candidates.
This election was a huge event in national life except some sporadic incidents as the EC has stopped polling at 22 centres for sporadic clashes and incidents out of the overall number of around 40,000 centres, he said quoting Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda as saying.
About the EVM use in voting, the EC Secretary said EVMs were used in six constituencies and there were curiosity, interest and anxiety over the use of these machines.
“But, we’ve been able to successfully use the EVMs…we’ll use EVMs in the upcoming elections. We will consider on how to get the results from these EVMs much earlier in the future,” he added.
Helal Uddin said the Commission is yet to calculate the overall percentage of votes casted in this election, adding their next big task will be to publish the gazette notification of the election results.
“Thus it will hand over it to the Speaker of Parliament for taking next steps and proceedings.”
The EC Secretary congratulated the Awami League for gaining the overwhelming victory side by side thanked the other political parties to cooperate with the EC for holding this election successfully.
The national election of December 30 has turned the life of Mofiz Uddin upside down -- and all for supporting BNP.
From a decent tea-shop vendor at Rabeya market of Bonkishore village in Rajshahi's Tanore upazila, the 48-year old man now works on a potato field.
“I have been a dedicated BNP worker since the 90s,” Mofiz said. “If I have committed a crime, it would be my engagement with BNP.”
In a tin-roofed earthen room under a Koroi tree at the market, Mofiz started the shop and ran it for over the last 20 years.
Furnished with a television, eight chairs, five tables, four benches and a few racks of bakery items, sweets and groceries, his tea-shop fetched him around Tk 3,000 a day to support his family of seven.
On December 21, Mofiz joined the election campaign for BNP candidate Aminul Haq when the latter went to Pachondor union.
Later that evening, a group of stick wielding men went to the market and ransacked the outside of his tea-shop, according to eye-witnesses.
“The attackers were outsiders, not known to me,” said a local businessman.
“I heard about the attack on my shop when I reached home, after campaigning that day,” said Mofiz. A friend of his called him from the market and told him to hide as the attackers were looking for him.
Until polls day, local AL men used the tea-shop as the election office of Awami League candidate Omor Faruk Chowdhury.
“Two days after the election ended, some local AL workers damaged what was left of the shop, including the earthen room, tin-roof, furniture, television, and everything else inside.”
Locals told this correspondent that they heard the AL men would build a party office in that place.
When contacted, Reaz Uddin, president of AL unit at Pachondor ward-2, said, “We are yet to decide on building our office there. If not an office, we may construct a passengers' shed that will come to the use of many.”
He said the land was 'khas' and Mofiz had been illegally occupying it.
On the identity of the attackers, he said, “Nobody knows them. They were wearing helmets and came to the village on motorcycles.”
He denied that it was local AL men who had damaged the shop after the election.
“It was Mofiz's brother, nephew and son who damaged the shop,” he said. On why Mofiz's own relatives would damage the shop, Reaz did not have an explanation.
When contacted, Rajshahi Superintendent of Police Md Shahidullah said they had not heard about the incident.
“We will investigate all allegations of post-election violence,” said the SP, adding that police circulated a message in the district so that no one would spread fear among others over feuds during the election.
Upon losing his source of income, Mofiz began work as day labourer on the potato fields to make ends meet, earning a mere Tk 300 a day.
“I am living in fear. I could not even go see the condition of my shop, the one I so dearly built from scratch,” he said.
After Bangladesh's journey began on the path to becoming a modern democracy in 1991, many expected that electoral democracy would gain a strong footing gradually. But that hope and aspiration stumbled for the first slip at the infamous Magura-2 parliamentary by-polls on March 20, 1994. It became a symbol of a rigged election in the era of democracy, which seemed to have been restored after Ershad's autocratic regime came crashing down.
That by-election brought two issues to the fore: that a free and fair election was not possible under a partisan government, and that the Election Commission was not free at all under a political government. The by-polls helped the Awami League-led opposition parties of that time to intensify their campaign for the introduction of a non-partisan, election-time government.
In the face of a strong campaign launched by the opposition, a caretaker government provision was introduced in the constitution and, subsequently, four national elections were held under non-partisan caretaker governments. Those elections were, by and large, free from the controversy of vote-rigging and ballot-stuffing. But the caretaker government system was annulled from the constitution following a court verdict. And we saw a resumption of the old tactics of vote rigging, with polling centres being run over by party cadres, ousting of polling agents, stuffing and snatching of ballot boxes, and intimidation of voters.
Then came the two controversial national elections of 2014 and 2018. While the BNP boycotted the 2014 election, the 2018 election saw 153 ruling-party-aligned candidates elected uncontested amid widespread allegations of irregularities. There were allegations that ballot boxes were stuffed the night before the election, and the opposition camp lost the election even before voting had begun.
In recent times, we have also witnessed voter turnouts gradually declining, which is surely an ominous sign for democracy.
After around three decades, if we look back at that fateful by-election of Magura, we would realise that the situation has not changed much. It happened again at the Gaibandha-5 by-election. The issue of by-elections came into discussion once again when seven BNP lawmakers – the only BNP candidates who had managed to win in 2018 – resigned. After their resignation, the Election Commission announced the election schedule, and the ruling Awami League and the main opposition in parliament, the Jatiya Party, nominated their respective candidates. But the Brahmanbaria-2 by-poll stole the show as a former BNP leader (after having been expelled from his party), Ukil Abdus Sattar, contested the election as an independent candidate.
Sattar had been elected five times from the constituency and had been state minister as a technocrat. His loyalty to the party was unquestionable. Following an order from the party high command, he had resigned from parliament, but made a surprise turn-around as he decided to contest the by-election as an independent candidate, in turn getting himself expelled from the BNP. The belief held in his constituency is that Sattar is contesting the polls for two reasons – first, he was trapped by the government and second, out of fear that he would not get the party ticket for the next election as he is over 83 years old.
Another reason is that BNP leader Rumeen Farhana has a high probability of getting the party nomination in the next election from that constituency. For Sattar, his political future is almost ending. Many in the constituency have also said that it is actually Sattar's son who is trying to "make his future" through this by-election.
This particular by-election attracted further attention when all three ruling Awami League aspirants – it was open to anyone interested to run – withdrew their candidacy following the directions of party high-ups. It turned out to be a cakewalk for Sattar. On AL's part, it was presumably a good gesture to let a senior politician of the opposing camp have a last hurrah, since he is most likely at the twilight of a long and distinguished career. However, it is so rare that this incident is certain to go down in history as a very likely one-off where the ruling party favoured an opposition candidate.
The ruling Awami League has repeatedly said that the next election will be a free, fair, and inclusive one. BNP sent a strong message through the resignation of its lawmakers, saying that it was not making empty threats when saying that the party would not join any elections under the incumbent government. And Awami League appeared to have countered this with a tactic of sending a message to BNP aspirants, saying they might get an open field if they break away and run during the elections. Then, Awami League could claim the elections to be inclusive and also be certain of retaining office.
It is often said that in politics, there is no last word. Through Sattar's participation, the ruling Awami League will try to prove a few things, particularly that BNP's decision to resign from the parliament was wrong, and will send a message to BNP leaders and aspirants that they may have a chance in the next polls if they betray their party and create a few cracks in what has so far remained steadfast determination. It is perhaps BNP's biggest achievement of the last 15 years that the party remained intact, with none of its stalwarts breaking away. But Sattar's election may have an impact.
But one must wonder whether this move was indeed a good strategy for the ruling party. Is politics just a voting game? Should there not be moral or ideological practices in politics? After all, the one thing politicians must keep in mind is that once someone is labelled as a traitor, it hangs around their neck like the fabled albatross.
BNP had to rig the Magura by-polls in 1994 to back their claim that their popularity had not decreased. Three decades later, the AL took on a different strategy and let an independent candidate win to coax out aspirants from BNP's fold. In 1994, although BNP won the polls, it was defeated in politics. The Awami League might console itself with a self-congratulatory chuckle thanks to Sattar's victory. It might almost seem that the Awami League has manipulated a win in the first skirmish. But will such a stratagem or tactic win them the war?
Mohammad Al-Masum Molla is deputy chief reporter at The Daily Star.
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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