g started at 8:00am and continued till 4:00pm without break. The elections were marked by poor voter turnout as many voters did not go to the polling centres in fear of violence. The Election Commission suspended voting at some poling centers following clashes between the supporters of the ruling Awami League-backed candidates and the party’s rebel contenders. “We took part in the city elections with the hope that it will be free and fair. But this election is nothing but a farcical one. We are boycotting the polls. People of the country will not accept this election,” said BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed. The BNP leader announced the decision at an ‘emergency’ press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the capital at 12:15pm while voting was continuing. He alleged the ruling party men grabbed polling centers, driven away polling agents of the BNP-backed candidates, seized ballot boxes and barred voters from going to polling stations. “The ruling Awami League-backed candidates and their supporters are filling ballot boxes with the help of police and RAB. Lawmen detained agents of BNP-backed candidates in many polling stations,” Moudud said. “We hoped that the city polls will be free and fair, which will smoothen the path of democracy. But this did no happen. This is no election arranged by the government and its Election Commission. Less than five per cent votes are cast in the polls.” The senior BNP leader said the farcical elections have again proved that that there is no democracy and no voting right of people under the incumbent government. Earlier, Chittagong BNP president Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury at a briefing announced the boycotting of the polls on behalf of party-backed mayor candidate Manjurul Alam. He alleged that people could not cast votes in 80 per cent of the polling centers of the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC). Manjurul Alam also announced his retirement from the politics at the press briefing. Some other candidates also alleged massive irregularities in the voting. Many voters could not go to polling centres due to obstruction by ruling party men, they said. Media also aired the irregularities and incidents of violence in different polling centres. In some cases, on-duty officials were found involved with the irregularities. Journalists also came under attack while covering the elections at some centres. Brushing aside such irregularities, top officials of law-enforcing agencies claimed that elections to the three city corporations were held in a free, fair and peaceful manner. “The polls were held peacefully. People cast their votes amid festivity,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah told reporters while visiting some centres. Meanwhile, the Election Commission suspended voting at some centres, including Suritola Primary School and Jurain Ashraf Master Model School due to irregularities. The situation started changing after 9:00am when BNP-backed candidates brought allegations of capturing polling centres and widespread vote rigging. Supporters of ruling party-backed councilor candidates and rebel candidates were locked in clashes some polling centres. The clashes took place at Suritola Primary School, Kabi Nazrul College, Zarina Shikder School, Kafrul High School, Pogos School, Siddeswari Girls College, Bulbul Lalitkala Academy, Mohammadia Islami Madrassha, Dhaka College, Banglabazar Govt Girls School and Dhalpur City Coproration Staff Quarter School. Some media outlets also captured images of ruling Awami League activists and supporters while they were illegally casting votes for their party-supported candidates. In Chittagong: Vote rigging and capturing of polling centres were reported in Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections on Tuesday. Many polling centres in the remotest areas of the city were captured allegedly by ruling Awami League (AL) and BCL men immediately after polling started in the morning. There were also allegations of casting votes by the ruling party men fraudulently for AL-backed mayor candidate AJM Nasir Uddin in the city centre. Two polling centres -- No.11 for male and No.12 for female voters — at BCSIR Laboratory High School in No.1 South Pahartali Ward presented a vacant look when a group of visiting journalists arrived there at around 9:00am. Explosion of several cocktails scared away the voters who were gathering at these two centres at around 7:30am, said witnesses. Only the polling agents of AL-backed mayoral candidate were in the centre, but no polling agent of other candidates could be seen there. Judicial Magistrate Noray Alam Bhuiyan, who arrived at the centre at around 10:00am, told reporters that he came to visit the centre as part of duty. At around 10:30am, a group of over 200 BCL men were seen coming out of the polling centre No.5 at South Pahartali Oli Ahmad Government Primary School. Presiding officer Fazlul Quader said over 60 percent votes were cast in the centre in a peaceful way. Only assistant presiding officers and polling officers were seen sitting in the booths, with polling complete there by around 10:45pm. BCL men came in processions, took away ballot books, put seals on ballot papers and filled the ballot boxes, they alleged. High police officials were seen sitting under a roadside tree some 50 yards off the centre where a huge number of law enforcers, including police and BGB members, were deployed. When asked, the police officers and magistrates said they did not get any complaint about law and order situation. Voters, who gathered far away from the polling centres, alleged that law enforcers and administrations abetted vote-rigging and capturing of the centre. Election officials in four of the eight booths at the polling centre at Fateyabad City Corporation Multi-purpose Girls’ High School were seen sitting idle without any ballot books with them at around 11:15am. Many voters had to go back home without casting their votes. BCL men were seen standing in long queues in front of the four other booths. They also barred voters and election officials from talking to the media. Talking to journalists at around 11:45am, Presiding Officer Faizul Haque said some 45 percent of 2,747 votes of the centre were cast. All the eight booths of Fateyabad College were seen under the control of BCL men at around 12:10pm. They also stopped journalists, got hold of their cameras or mobile phones and deleted snaps of the booths taken by the latter tactfully from there. Presiding Officer Md Ziaul Haque Khan of the centre said some 60 percent of 2,484 votes of the centre were cast under his supervision in a peaceful way. Asked about allegation of irregularities in voting, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed “I have not received any complaint of irregularities during my visit to different polling centres.” Election to the undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was held eight years after the expiry to the previous tenure. The last election to the DCC was held in 2002. This was the first Dhaka city election after the Awami League -led government split the DCC into two — Dhaka south with 36 wards and Dhaka north with 56. But the CCC polls were held before the expiry of its tenure. The last election was held on June 17 in 2010.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
BNP pulls out of city polls:Daily Sun
g started at 8:00am and continued till 4:00pm without break. The elections were marked by poor voter turnout as many voters did not go to the polling centres in fear of violence. The Election Commission suspended voting at some poling centers following clashes between the supporters of the ruling Awami League-backed candidates and the party’s rebel contenders. “We took part in the city elections with the hope that it will be free and fair. But this election is nothing but a farcical one. We are boycotting the polls. People of the country will not accept this election,” said BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed. The BNP leader announced the decision at an ‘emergency’ press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the capital at 12:15pm while voting was continuing. He alleged the ruling party men grabbed polling centers, driven away polling agents of the BNP-backed candidates, seized ballot boxes and barred voters from going to polling stations. “The ruling Awami League-backed candidates and their supporters are filling ballot boxes with the help of police and RAB. Lawmen detained agents of BNP-backed candidates in many polling stations,” Moudud said. “We hoped that the city polls will be free and fair, which will smoothen the path of democracy. But this did no happen. This is no election arranged by the government and its Election Commission. Less than five per cent votes are cast in the polls.” The senior BNP leader said the farcical elections have again proved that that there is no democracy and no voting right of people under the incumbent government. Earlier, Chittagong BNP president Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury at a briefing announced the boycotting of the polls on behalf of party-backed mayor candidate Manjurul Alam. He alleged that people could not cast votes in 80 per cent of the polling centers of the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC). Manjurul Alam also announced his retirement from the politics at the press briefing. Some other candidates also alleged massive irregularities in the voting. Many voters could not go to polling centres due to obstruction by ruling party men, they said. Media also aired the irregularities and incidents of violence in different polling centres. In some cases, on-duty officials were found involved with the irregularities. Journalists also came under attack while covering the elections at some centres. Brushing aside such irregularities, top officials of law-enforcing agencies claimed that elections to the three city corporations were held in a free, fair and peaceful manner. “The polls were held peacefully. People cast their votes amid festivity,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah told reporters while visiting some centres. Meanwhile, the Election Commission suspended voting at some centres, including Suritola Primary School and Jurain Ashraf Master Model School due to irregularities. The situation started changing after 9:00am when BNP-backed candidates brought allegations of capturing polling centres and widespread vote rigging. Supporters of ruling party-backed councilor candidates and rebel candidates were locked in clashes some polling centres. The clashes took place at Suritola Primary School, Kabi Nazrul College, Zarina Shikder School, Kafrul High School, Pogos School, Siddeswari Girls College, Bulbul Lalitkala Academy, Mohammadia Islami Madrassha, Dhaka College, Banglabazar Govt Girls School and Dhalpur City Coproration Staff Quarter School. Some media outlets also captured images of ruling Awami League activists and supporters while they were illegally casting votes for their party-supported candidates. In Chittagong: Vote rigging and capturing of polling centres were reported in Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections on Tuesday. Many polling centres in the remotest areas of the city were captured allegedly by ruling Awami League (AL) and BCL men immediately after polling started in the morning. There were also allegations of casting votes by the ruling party men fraudulently for AL-backed mayor candidate AJM Nasir Uddin in the city centre. Two polling centres -- No.11 for male and No.12 for female voters — at BCSIR Laboratory High School in No.1 South Pahartali Ward presented a vacant look when a group of visiting journalists arrived there at around 9:00am. Explosion of several cocktails scared away the voters who were gathering at these two centres at around 7:30am, said witnesses. Only the polling agents of AL-backed mayoral candidate were in the centre, but no polling agent of other candidates could be seen there. Judicial Magistrate Noray Alam Bhuiyan, who arrived at the centre at around 10:00am, told reporters that he came to visit the centre as part of duty. At around 10:30am, a group of over 200 BCL men were seen coming out of the polling centre No.5 at South Pahartali Oli Ahmad Government Primary School. Presiding officer Fazlul Quader said over 60 percent votes were cast in the centre in a peaceful way. Only assistant presiding officers and polling officers were seen sitting in the booths, with polling complete there by around 10:45pm. BCL men came in processions, took away ballot books, put seals on ballot papers and filled the ballot boxes, they alleged. High police officials were seen sitting under a roadside tree some 50 yards off the centre where a huge number of law enforcers, including police and BGB members, were deployed. When asked, the police officers and magistrates said they did not get any complaint about law and order situation. Voters, who gathered far away from the polling centres, alleged that law enforcers and administrations abetted vote-rigging and capturing of the centre. Election officials in four of the eight booths at the polling centre at Fateyabad City Corporation Multi-purpose Girls’ High School were seen sitting idle without any ballot books with them at around 11:15am. Many voters had to go back home without casting their votes. BCL men were seen standing in long queues in front of the four other booths. They also barred voters and election officials from talking to the media. Talking to journalists at around 11:45am, Presiding Officer Faizul Haque said some 45 percent of 2,747 votes of the centre were cast. All the eight booths of Fateyabad College were seen under the control of BCL men at around 12:10pm. They also stopped journalists, got hold of their cameras or mobile phones and deleted snaps of the booths taken by the latter tactfully from there. Presiding Officer Md Ziaul Haque Khan of the centre said some 60 percent of 2,484 votes of the centre were cast under his supervision in a peaceful way. Asked about allegation of irregularities in voting, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed “I have not received any complaint of irregularities during my visit to different polling centres.” Election to the undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was held eight years after the expiry to the previous tenure. The last election to the DCC was held in 2002. This was the first Dhaka city election after the Awami League -led government split the DCC into two — Dhaka south with 36 wards and Dhaka north with 56. But the CCC polls were held before the expiry of its tenure. The last election was held on June 17 in 2010.
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