B’desh to hold gen polls today, Hasina poised to win 4th consecutive term

Dhaka, Jan 6: Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which on Saturday began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the “illegal government” amidst sporadic violence. The election commission said it has nearly completed the preparedness for voting in the 300 constituencies across the country and also ensured security arrangements.
A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday’s polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country’s Election Commission. More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates. Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.
“We want our general elections to be observed not only nationally but internationally as well. Bangladesh is a member of the UN and also a signatory in different international instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights),” Bangladesh Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said.
The election commission said voting will start at 8 am and will end at 5 pm. The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8.
Prime Minister Hasina’s ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.
Hasina govt is ‘corrupt and undemocratic’: BNP
On the eve of Bangladesh’s general election, the country’s main opposition party’s vice chairman Nitai Roy Chowdhury on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government is neck deep in corruption.
“This government out and out from head to neck is corrupt. They have connections. This is not a democratic government. Development cannot be there without democracy. People’s participation must be there,” Roy from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told PTI.
“In our politics why do I stress so much on economic conditions? Politics is a concentrated expression of the economy. If we fail to bring our economy in position, it will not do anything. We are going through a peaceful movement. We never believe in violence and destroying people’s property,” he said.
Bangladesh’s main opposition party BNP led by former prime minister Khalida Zia is boycotting the January 7 election amid violence and has called for a 48-hour nationwide strike against the “illegal government”.
The BNP is demanding an interim non-party neutral government to hold the election.
The demand was, however, rejected by the government headed by Hasina, who is also the chairman of the ruling Awami League.
Train arson: BNP leader among eight arrested
Dhaka police on Saturday arrested eight people, including a prominent leader of the opposition BNP, in connection with Friday’s arson attack on a train in the heart of Dhaka that left at least four people dead, ahead of elections in Bangladesh boycotted by the opposition.
Four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole, bordering West Bengal, were set on fire at around 9 pm on Friday at the Gopibagh area, less than two km from its destination of the capital’s Kamalapur Railway Station.
The eight persons arrested include Dhaka south city unit BNP joint convener Nabi Ullah Nabi and five activists of Jubo Dal, which is the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s youth wing. (PTI)