Dhaka – The much-talked-about 10th national election is going to be held on Sunday amid the opposition’s boycott and widespread arson attacks across the country that left about 100 polling stations damaged and one person dead on Saturday. The election will be held in 147 parliamentary constituencies out of 300. The voting will be held from 8am to 4pm without any break. The enthusiasm among the voters has died down for various reasons, including the absence of voting in 153 constituencies where the single candidates are poised to be elected unopposed and lack of election friendly-environment due to political violence over the polls, depriving more than half the country’s voters of exercising their franchise.
In its last-ditch efforts to stop the election, the BNP-led 18-party alliance enforced non-stop blockade and 48-hour hartal programmes across the country. The opposition alliance is boycotting the election as its demand for a non-partisan interim-government to oversee the election has gone unheeded.
Over 130 people have been killed across the country in election-related violence across the country since the Election Commission announced the election schedule on November 25.
All the efforts by the international community and the civil society members to convince the government to hold an inclusive election has gone in vain as the current regime and the Election Commission are saying that the election has to be held by January 24 for maintaining the constitutional process.
However, some ministers have drooped hints at holding another election after January 24, 2014 with the participation of all political parties.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Khaleda Zia and her son and BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman in their separate messages urged the voters to boycott the ‘unilateral’ polls, while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her address to the nation on Thursday said this election will create an opportunity for people to form a ‘government of their choice’.
The Election Commission said it has already completed its all necessary preparations to arrange the country’s 10th general election. Some 100 polling centres have been torched across the country on the eve of the election.
A total of 4,39,38938 voters out of the country’s 9,19,65,977 will be able to exercise their franchises to choose the representatives of the 147 constituencies from 380 candidates.
Out of 40 registered political parties, 12 parties are contesting the election.
In the 147 constituencies, there are 120 contesting candidates of Awami League, while 66 of HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party, 27 of Jatiya Party-JP, 22 of the newly-floated BNF, 21 of Jasad, 16 of Workers’ Party, six of Bangladesh National Awami Party, three of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, two of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, one of each Ganotantri Party, Ganofront and Bangladesh Islami Front, and 104 independent candidates.
In a rare instance, the general election is being held almost without the presence of foreign observers. Only four foreign observers – two from each India and Bhutan — will monitor the general election, said an EC official seeking anonymity.
But in 2008 a total of 585 foreign observers from 18 agencies monitored the ninth general election.
Even local non-government organisations are also not interested to monitor the election extensively.
Some 30 local organisations are deploying a total 13,341 observers to monitor the 2014 national election, whereas 75 local organisations deployed nearly 1,60,000 observers in the 2008 general election which had got widespread acceptance both at home and abroad.
As part of the preparations, the commission has set up a control room at the EC secretariat to receive the election results from across the country on completion of the voting at 4pm on Sunday.
Chief Election Commission Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad inaugurated a media centre on the premises of the Election Commission Secretariat on Saturday ahead of the 10th parliamentary elections.
The commission set up 18,208 polling stations and 91,213 booths for the voting in the 147 constituencies.
Fifteen security men, including five police members and 10 Ansar & VDP members, will guard each polling station, while 17 security men, including six police members and 11 Ansar & VDP, will guard each vulnerable polling station.
Nearly 13,000 polling stations out of the 18,208 were said to be vulnerable.
Besides, members of the armed forces, Boarder Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rab and Coast Guard are working as striking forces in the election areas.
Some 80,000 policemen, 50,000 members of the armed forces, 2,20,000-2,50,000 Ansar men, 8404 Rab personnel and 16181 BGB men are now working to ensure an election-friendly environment, EC secretariat sources said.
To deal with the polls violence, there are also 147 judicial magistrates and 294 executive magistrates, and 103 two-member electoral enquiry committees in the constituencies.
Nearly 3 lakh election officials, including 61 returning officers, 18,208 presiding officers, 91,213 assistant presiding officers and 182,426 polling officials are engaged to cast votes on the polling day.
Some 390 candidates are there in the election race in the 147 constituencies in 59 districts.
The arrangement of voting is not needed on January 5 in the five districts — Joypurhat, Rajbari, Shariatpur, Madaripur and Chandpur — where all the constituencies got single candidates.
Of the MP candidates who are set to be elected, 127 candidates of AL, 20 of Jatiya Party, three of Jasad, two of Workers’ Party and single candidate of Jatiya Party-JP.
Before this, the highest 49 MP candidates were elected uncontested in the one-sided 1996 February election which had been boycotted by the then the opposition Awami League.
On November 25, the election commission announced the election schedule. – UNB
