Archive for December 30th, 2008
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008The Awami League-led grand alliance is set to win an emphatic landslide victory in an environment of free and fair elections that clearly showed the people's verdict for a change.As of 2 in the morning, the grand alliance had clinched 138 seats compared to 17 won by its rival BNP-led four-party alliance. Independent candidate Khondoker Abdul Baten won from Tangail 6 constituency.Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's key ally within its four-party combine, has seen its seat tally plummet from 17 seats in 2001 to one seat thus far, in what appears to be wholesale rejection by the voters.The defeat of ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina last night asked her party men not to bring out any victory processions until the polls results are announced officially.“She also urged them to exercise utmost restraint," AL chief's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters.Earlier, after casting her vote at Dhaka City College centre at 8:30am, she said she was optimistic about her alliance getting the mandate to run the country.Talking to reporters, the former prime minister called on all political parties to accept the election outcomes whatever they may be.Meantime, as the grand alliance was heading for a landslide in ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008The BNP yesterday complained that there were irregularities, ballot rigging and forgery in 220 poll centres in 72 constituencies across the country during the just concluded ninth parliamentary election.The party lodged the complaints with the Election Commission (EC) last night.BNP Office Secretary Rizvi Ahmed spoke about their complaints at a press briefing at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office hours after unofficial poll results showed that the BNP-led four-party alliance lost convincingly to its archrival Awami League.Rizvi, who earlier in the day also held several press briefings on the elections, however declined to make any comment about the latest results.Asked if ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Half way into the election results, the AL-led grand alliance has taken a clear lead in the race, keeping ahead of its archrival BNP-led four-party in most constituencies. The grand alliance has already won in 19 seats and the four-party in five.Those who won from the grand alliance include Sheikh Hasina (Rangpur-6 & Gopalganj-3), Motahar Hossain (Lalmonirhat-1), Manoranjanshil Gopal (Dinajpur-1), Iqbalur Rahim (Dinajpur-3), Asaduzzaman Noor (Nilphamari-2), GM Quader (Lalmonirhat-3), Sultana Tarun (Kushtia-4), Hasanul Haq Inu (Kushtia-2), Shamsul Islam Tuku (Pabna-1), Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury (Sylhet-2), Nazrul Islam Babu (Narayanganj-2), Imran Ahmed (Sylhet-4), Mojibur Rahman (Lalmonirhat-2), AK Khanadker (Pabna-2), Mahbubur Rahman Talukder ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda has said there would be no scope for any quarter to reject the results of the ninth parliamentary election."The voting has been arranged in such a way that there will be no scope for rejecting the results," the CEC told reporters after casting his vote at the Gulshan Model School and College polling centre yesterday.Huda along with his wife arrived at the polling centre at 10:00am and left at about 10:15am.He said, "About 1,500 foreign and two lakh local observers are monitoring the whole election process. It will be impossible for ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008The anti-liberation forces have been defeated once again, this time through peoples' verdict. While it is a sweet revenge for Bangladeshis against the war criminals, the verdict will make stronger the demand for their trial.In the historic ninth parliamentary elections held yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami, collaborators of the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, faced the worst election debacle winning only one seat out of 38 it contested for.Jamaat's big shots including Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and central leader Delwar Hossain Saydee -- lawmakers in the last parliament -- have been rejected by voters.Nizami, who contested the ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday expressed the hope that the political parties would gracefully accept the results of the ninth parliamentary polls.Talking to reporters after casting his vote at Gulshan Model School and College in the city at 10:15am yesterday, the CA said he was delighted to see the voter turnout in the polling centres.The head of the caretaker government said, “We are going ahead to handover power. Transition to democracy will result in establishing good governance and development of the country.”He said voting was held across the country peacefully and in a festive mood.Replying to a question, the ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Enthusiastic first time voters representing almost one-fourth of around 81 millions on the electoral roll exercised their franchise with the hope of a positive attitude in members of next parliament.Alif Layla, an MBA student of Dhaka University, was standing in a long queue at a Mohammadpur polling centre. She said she expects this election would bring some positive changes among the leaders and that's why she was keen to cast her vote."I hope our security would be ensured and price of essentials sharply decrease," she expressed her hopes. "We'll return to democracy through this election and I hope our politicians ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Minority voters in different areas in Chittagong received threats from workers of the four-party alliance despite huge preparations and safety measures for a free and fair election.Islami Chhatra Shibir activists and workers of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury allegedly issued the threats in remote poll centres.However, the minority voters braved the situation and cast votes even after facing the goons on their ways to poll centres.But a significant number of voters, especially the indigenous people and Biharis [non-Bangalees] could not vote as they were not on the new voter roll.Around 300 such voters did not find their names on the electoral roll ...
(read more) Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Thousands of voters in the capital could not vote yesterday despite repeated frantic attempts, due to an apparent mismanagement of the much ballyhooed successful voter list by the Election Commission (EC).Voters who could not exercise their right to franchise despite having legitimate voter numbers printed on their national ID cards, returned home disappointed often with tears congealed in their eyes.The fallout of the mismanagement even culminated into a temporary internment of a deputy election commissioner in the hands of irate voters who failed to cast their votes in a compound of polling centres in Dhaka-12.Abdul Awal, a freedom ...
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