Archive for December, 2008
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 ...
(read more) Monday, December 29th, 2008A new dawn beacons as some eight crore voters walk down to polling centres today to elect a new government, a democratic one after seven years -- five years in political quandary and two years in a reverse reconnaissance and correction bid that many may find not up to the mark, but a worthwhile try.By tomorrow morning, either of the two political alliances -- one led by Awami League and the other by BNP -- will walk victorious. But that will only be the beginning of a new journey to the searching question of how the body politics wants Bangladesh ...
(read more) Monday, December 29th, 2008Political parties mostly split between electoral alliances led by Awami League and BNP get locked in a battle for ballots today as the nation throbs with life at the prospect of a peaceful transition to democracy.For the first time in the country's election history the contest will be confined mainly to two coalitions.Amid a growing political turmoil in January last year, the ninth parliamentary election then slated for January 22 was postponed and a state of emergency decreed.The nation had been waiting for this day since dissolution of parliament on October 27, 2006. Now its expectation for a ...
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