BNP won't quit

The BNP will stay in the union parishad elections so that it can expose “the real face of the Awami League and the Election Commission”.

Even though frustrated over the irregularities and violence during Tuesday's union parishad polls, the party would not boycott the polls to unmask before the nation as well as the world the ruling party's “evil plan to win the race” and the EC's cooperation in it, said a party leader, wishing anonymity.

Main opposition Jatiya Party and some left parties, including partners of the AL-led 14-party alliance, also expressed frustration over the violence and the killing of 10 people in the first phase of the local government elections.

AL leaders, however, said they were satisfied with the polls and the results, but would ask the party grassroots to control themselves to curb such violence in the next phases.

Both the BNP and the Jatiya Party instructed their party men to be more active in the next phases, party sources said.

“We are really frustrated with the way the union parishad polls were held amid widespread irregularities and violence," said BNP leader Emran Saleh Prince, engaged in the UP election process of the party.

Another BNP leader Abdullah Al Noman said the party's grassroots were asked not to leave the election field so that people could understand what the real face of the ruling party and the EC was.

Speaking at a programme, BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tuesday's UP polls raised questions whether there was any government in the country.

Expressing satisfaction over the polls, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, meanwhile, said, "The elections [on Tuesday] were less violent than any other local government election in the past. There were some silly incidents during the elections.

"We got our expected results."

Hanif, however, added that the government would try to contain incidents of violence in the next polls.

There are different views within the AL. Some leaders think Tuesday's violence stained the government's image and that it would have been better, had the AL concentrated more on security issues, rather than the results.

Talking to The Daily Star, Jatiya Party Co-chairman GM Quader said, “We want to see what steps the Election Commission and the government take to hold free and fair polls in the upcoming phases.

“Our future political measures will depend on it."

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Mujahidul Islam Selim said the elections were farcical.

"It was a mockery of an election, through which a ground was created to destroy the country," he said talking about his party's observation about the polls.

Workers Party, a component of the AL-led alliance, strongly condemned the widespread irregularities in the polls.

Party General Secretary Fazley Hossain Badsha said the elections saw gross violations of electoral codes of conduct.  

Gonotantrik Party presidium member Nurur Rahman Selim said the government, EC and law enforcement agencies would have to take the responsibility for the polls violence. 

He also urged them to be on the alert for such incidents in future.

Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) General Secretary Mubinul Haider Chowdhury in a statement said the violence once again proved that no fair election was possible under the incumbent government.

Biplobi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque in another statement said Tuesday's election results were declared on the instructions of the AL, causing people to lose confidence in the electoral system.