Archive for December 29th, 2006
Friday, December 29th, 2006Fierce clashes between police and activists of Awami League-led grand alliance marked the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the alliance in Rangpur and Lalmonirhat districts yesterday while the hartal in Kurigram, Gaibandha and Nilphamari districts passed off almost peacefully. Half-day hartal was also observed at Sylhet-3 and Habiganj-3 constituencies.At least 100 people including police, activists and leaders of the grand alliance and journalists were injured in a series of clashes at different places in Rangpur town during the hartal hours, reports our Rangpur correspondent.The grand alliance called the hartal yesterday to protest the cancellation of nomination papers of Jatiya ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006The Awami League (AL) led grand alliance will announce today its decision whether to participate in the next parliamentary elections under the circumstances when the caretaker government is allegedly using the administration and law enforcement agencies against the alliance.AL President Sheikh Hasina will announce the alliance's crucial decision at a joint press conference in the presence of top alliance leaders.Sources said Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, and other key leaders of the grand alliance will be present at Hasina's press briefing.AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil at a press briefing at the ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006A number of mid- and grassroots-level leaders of Awami League (AL) are increasingly becoming frustrated at the party's nomination of several candidates with slim chance of victory over those recommended by AL's own field-level survey.Sources said the ignored candidates in around 40 constituencies enjoy more grassroots support and are more likely to win than the nominated candidates.Party insiders also feared losing even more seats because of the party's preference for nominating candidates from its allies, who, they suspect, will lose the election in the safe AL seats.A number of high-level AL leaders admitted to flaws in choosing candidates for nomination. ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006More and more BNP activists staged protests in the last couple of days, sometimes locking in violent clashes with rivals within the party, in different parts of the country defying their party nominees as their leaders did not get the tickets to run for the upcoming election. There have been reports of internal clashes and demonstrations against BNP nominations and filing of nomination papers against party candidates in a number of constituencies in Narsingdi, Chuadanga, Khulna, Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Jhalokathi, Jessore, Chandpur, Kushtia and Manikganj.The BNP leadership fears that more violent protests might follow after the party announces the final ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006Presence of poisonous oil used in electrical transformers as coolant was found in deep fried food items sold in roadside shops in the capital.Traces of toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) were also found in blood samples of some people, tested under an ongoing project of the Department of Environment (DoE). It has been assumed that unscrupulous businessmen have been engaged in mixing the coolant with edible oil for a long time.However, tests of edible oil to find out traces of PCB are yet to be conducted.A study conducted by experts of DoE under the project recently found presence of ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006The Attorney General's Office (AGO) goes into overdrive, speeding up or slowing down some court orders for the Election Commission (EC) to capitalise on the dubious moves that curiously suit the purpose of the BNP-led alliance.Of late, judgement copies are either being sent overnight from the court or being delayed by weeks apparently to upset the execution process. Observers credit the erratic pace of the AGO to its office bearers, most of whom are directly involved with the BNP and Jamaat politics.The Japanese boat purchase graft case against HM Ershad and the stay order by Supreme Court freeing the ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad will file appeal with the Election Commission (EC) today challenging the validity of the returning officers' (RO) decisions rejecting his nomination papers for five constituencies. "We will file appeal with the Election Commission tomorrow. Our lawyers are preparing for the legal battle," JP Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader told The Daily Star yesterday.Nine candidates, whose nomination papers were rejected on different grounds, filed appeal with the EC yesterday, the first day of filing appeal against the RO's decision.The ROs on Wednesday rejected 264 nomination papers due to loan defaults and other disqualifying ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan last night blamed the Awami League-led grand alliance for trying to show fresh excuses on Ershad issue to boycott or foil the January 22 general election.He made the remark while welcoming Jatiya Party (Ershad) presidium member and former minister Mainuddin Bhuiyan of Narsingdi to the party at a function at Hawa Bhaban.Mainuddin along with some central and local leaders formally joined the BNP by presenting a bouquet to the BNP secretary general.Mannan Bhuiyan urged the grand alliance to participate in the upcoming polls, refraining from creating further "confusion and causing suffering to the people". ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan last night blamed the Awami League-led grand alliance for trying to show fresh excuses on Ershad issue to boycott or foil the January 22 general election.He made the remark while welcoming Jatiya Party (Ershad) presidium member and former minister Mainuddin Bhuiyan of Narsingdi to the party at a function at Hawa Bhaban.Mainuddin along with some central and local leaders formally joined the BNP by presenting a bouquet to the BNP secretary general.Mannan Bhuiyan urged the grand alliance to participate in the upcoming polls, refraining from creating further "confusion and causing suffering to the people". ...
(read more) Friday, December 29th, 2006The Returning Officer's Office of Barisal did not disqualify the nomination papers of former BNP whip Shahidul Huq Jamal and two other candidates even though a Bangladesh Bank (BB) report listed them as loan defaulters, our Barisal correspondent reports.In Gazipur, two AL leaders sent a letter to the chief election commissioner yesterday asking him to disqualify a four-party candidate on the grounds of him being a loan defaulter.The Returning Officer's Office of Barisal cancelled 13 nomination papers of seven constituencies in the district as the candidates were listed as loan defaulters in a report published by Credit Information Bureau ...
(read more) 
