The Awami League is heading towards an absolute majority in Sunday’s parliamentary elections that was marked by violent clashes in different parts of the country and low turnout amid boycott by the opposition alliance.
According to primary results available as of filing this report around 12 midnight, the ruling party won 68 seats out of 90 while Jatiya Party got nine, JSD two, Workers Party two and independent candidates nine seats.
The unofficial winners include AL President Sheikh Hasina Gopalganj-3 and Rangpur-3), Matia Chowdhury, Kamal Ahmed Majumdar, Arif Khan Joy, Mostafizur Rahman, Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, JP Chairman HM Ershad, JP Presidium member Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu and Haji Mohammad Selim.
Earlier, 153 MP candidates were elected unopposed in the much-talked-about 10th parliamentary elections.
Of the 153 seats, 127 candidates of AL while 20 of Jatiya Party (Ershad), three of Jasad, two of Workers’ Party and single candidate of Jatiya Party (Manju) are waiting for the official declaration from the Election Commission.
The voting that opened at 8am and continued till 4pm without any break saw low turnout of voters and clashes between law enforcers and anti-election activists that left at least 19 people dead in different districts.
The deaths were reported from Rangpur, Dinajpur, Feni, Nilphamari, Laxmipur, Munshiganj, Chittagong, Gaibandha, Thakurgaon, Naogaon and Jessore.
Among the deceased, four were killed in Dinajpur, three in Thakurgaon, two each in Rangpur, Nilphamari and Feni, and one each in Laxmipur, Munshiganj, Chittagong, Gaibandha, Naogaon and Jessore districts.
Meanwhile, polling at 391 centres across the country was postponed due to destruction of those in arson attacks by anti-election activists, sources at the Election Commission Secretariat said.
A total of 14 candidates rejected the polls on charges of vote rigging.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad at a press briefing at the Election Commission (EC) at 2pm also apparently acknowledged the low turnout of voters in the 10th national election.
A total of 43,938,938 voters out of the country’s 91,965,977 were supposed to exercise their franchises to choose the representatives in the 147 constituencies from 380 candidates.
Out of 40 registered political parties, only 12 parties are contesting the election as the 18-party alliance and other political parties boycotted the election with demands that the election be held under a non-party administration.
UNB correspondents visiting different polling centres in the capital saw a very low presence of voters till midday.
Poor voter turnout was also reported from different districts, including Chapainwabganj, Jamalpur, Feni, Laxmipur and Sylhet districts.
The opposition alliance boycotted the election as its demand for a non-partisan interim government to oversee the election has gone unheeded.
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.
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 were insisting that the election has to be held by January 24 for maintaining the constitutional process.
Source: UNBConnect