Dec 30 polls ‘a cruel mockery’ with nation: Fakhrul

Dhaka, Jan 03 – Jatiya Oikya Front leaders, who have been elected Member of Parliament (MP) in the just concluded general elections, won’t take the oath and not join the 11th parliament, said Oikya Front spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.“All the Oikya Front candidates, who contested the 11th parliamentary election with the Sheaf of Paddy symbol, will separately file cases with the election tribunal along with reported evidence of vote-rigging collected from their respective constituencies,” he said while taking to reporters after a meeting of the Oikya Front candidates at BNP chairperson’s political office in Gulshan on Thursday.
He also questioned the necessity of taking oath after rejecting the polls and saying that the seven lawmakers-elect from Jatiya Oikya Front won’t take oath as members of the parliament and the time for taking oaths has passed.
Mirza Alamgir, also secretary general of the BNP, came up with the comments immediate after an emergency meeting of the newly-elected MPs from the ruling Awami League and its partners in the grand alliance took their oath at a simple function at the Jatiya Sangsad in the morning.
He accused the government of resorting to cruel deception and farce in the name of election and that’s why the Oikya Front rejected the poll results and demands re-election under a neutral government.
It was speculated that the Oikya Front lawmakers-elect are likely to take oath later on as there is an opportunity to take oath within 90 days after the beginning of the new parliament session. Mirza Alamgir rejected the possibility with the decision took in Oikya Front candidates meeting began at about 11:00am.
A total of 174 Oikya Front candidates were present at the meeting. The two Ganoforum MPs-elect were absent in the meeting. Candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami, a major partner of the 20-party alliance, also attended the meeting.
In Sunday’s parliamentary elections, the ruling Awami League-led alliance secured 288 seats while Dr Kamal Hossain led Jatiya Oikya Front bagged only seven seats. Of them, the BNP candidates bagged
only five seats while its alliance partner Ganoforum two.
Of the BNP candidates—Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir won the election from Bogura-6 while Mosharraf Hossain from Bogura-4, Zahidur Rahman from Thakurgaon-3, Aminul Islam from Chapainawabganj-2 and
Harun-or-Rshid from Chapainawabganj-3 constituency.
Ganoforum candidates MOkabbir Khan won the election from Sylhet-2 and Sultan Mohammed Monsur from Moulavibazar-2 constituency.
The Jatiya Oikya Front rejected the elections immediate after concluding the elections and before the announcement of the results over the allegation of ‘vote decoity by the ruling party in connivance with
the administration and the law enforcers.’
At a steering committee meeting on Monday, Jatiya Oikya Front leaders turned down the election results and decided to submit a memorandum to the Election Commission demanding reelection under a non-partisan neutral government.
CEC Nurul Huda, however, rejected any possibility of holding reelection.
Later, a 15-member delegate of Oikya Front led by Mirza Alamgir went to the Election Commission and submitted the memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner over the rejection of the poll results.
Of the 300, constituencies, the BNP nominated 298 candidates to contest the polls with the sheaf of paddy while two others candidates-Col (Retd) Oli Ahmed of LDP and Hamidur Rahman Azad took part in the elections with the party and independent polls symbol respectively.
Among others, chief election coordinator Nazrul Islam Khan, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury of BNP, ASB Abdur Rab and Abdul Malek Ratan of JSD, Bangabir Kader Siddiqui and Iqbal Siddiqui of Krishak Sramik Janata League, Subrata Chowdhury and Mostafa Mohsin Montu of Ganoforum, Ahmed Abdul Quader of Khelafat Majlish, Mostafizur Rahman Iran of Labour Party and Fariduzzaman Farhad of NDP, were present at the meeting.
Meanwhile, terming 11th parliamentary polls ‘a mockery with the nation’, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday reiterated fresh election under a
non-partisan government by canceling the results of the just concluded election.
“It’s a cruel mockery with the nation by holding such an election where people could not vote. The state machinery has been used against the people and the Election Commission has acted entirely in a biased
manner. We demand the cancellation of the results of the election and fresh election immediately under a non-partisan government,” he said.
Fakhrul who is also the spokesperson of Jatiya Oikya Front said came up with the demands at a press conference at the Nirbachan Bhaban after submitting a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda.
Among others, BNP senior leaders Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Krishak Sramik Janata League president Bangabir Kader Siddique, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president ASM Abdur Rab, Gonoforum leader Subrata Chowdhury, Nagorik Oikya convenor Mahmudur Rahman Mannan, were present on the occasion.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “It is not the problem of BNP or Front. People have been deprived of their franchisee. The voters were deprived of their voting rights for long ten years through deception and forgery and they have again been deprived of their voting rights. The EC has to bear the liabilities for it.”
The BNP leader alleged that the Commission with the direction of the government had announced the election schedule without any consultation with all political parties. EC announced the schedule by
violating the Representation of Peoples Order, 1972 and EC gave a wrong interpretation of it, he added.
Allegedly portraying a partial picture of voting rigging and vandalism of the ruling party men in connivance with the law enforcers on 29 and 30 December, 2018, Fakhrul said a ghostly environment is created across the country on the day before election by shutting down all shops with the help of law enforcers.
The ruling party men and terror groups stuffed the ballot boxes by 30-60 per cent voters at night before election day with the support of law enforcers and officials who takes polls, he added.
He also said the government sponsored goons (lathial) were present at the polling centres and obstructed the voters from entering the centres. Voters did not get any remedy from the law enforcers rather in most of the cases voters were forced to leave the centres without casting votes.
Even the voters were threatened before the election night saying cases will be filed if they go to election centres, he alleged.
Fakhrul further said the polling agents were also obstructed from entering the centres and many polling agents were harassed, beaten and arrested. Even two of the election commissioners also admitted the
absence of polling agents, he added.
He alleged that the executive and judicial magistrates were kept inactive and they could not take minimum steps against piles of allegations.
He further said the journalists and observers were obstructed to enter into the polling centres. Only the foreign observers and reporters were shown the voters queues in some areas of the metropolitan but in
reality they were not the real voters of the areas.
He further said the EC and its field level officials did not have any control over the election.
About army deployment, he said, the army was scheduled to deploy on December 14 but they were deployed on December 24. But army had been kept inactive and people did not get any redress from the force, he alleged. – Staff Reorter