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03:47 PM, December 07, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 04:28 PM, December 07, 2018

Workers Party, JSD, Bikalpa Dhara to vie polls with ‘boat’ symbol

Ruling Awami League (AL) granted 15 candidates of its six alliance components to compete the upcoming parliamentary election with its electoral symbol “boat”.

Of those, five candidates are from the Workers Party, three from JSD (Inu), three from Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB), two from Jatiya Party (JP Manju), one from Tariqat Federation and one from Sharif Nurul Ambia-led Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).

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However, all contenders of HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party will contest the general election with their electoral symbol “plough”, Quader said.

Take a look on the table to know which candidates running polls with ‘boat’:

Party Name

Constituency

Candidates’ name

 

Workers' Party

 

Dhaka-8

Rashed Khan Menon

Rajshahi -2

Fazle Hossain Badshah

Satkhira-1

Mostafa Lutfullah

Thakurgaon -3

Iasin Ali

 

Barishal-3

Sheikh Tipu Sultan

 

JSD (Inu)

Kushtia-2

Hasanul Haq Inu

Feni-1

Shirin Akhter

Bogura-4

AKM Rezaul Karim Tansen

JSD (Ambia)

Chattogram-8

Moinuddin Khan Badal

Bangladesh Tariqat Federation

Chattogram-2

Nazibul Boshor Maizvandari

Lakshmipur-1

 Anwar Hossain Khan

Jatiya Party (Manju)

 

Pirojpur-2

Anwar Hossain Manju

Kurigram-4

Ruhul Amin

Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB)

Munshiganj -1

Mahi B Chowdhury

Lakshmipur-4

Major (Retd) Abdul Mannan

Moulvibazar-2

MM Shaheen

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Police yesterday arrested two more people for their alleged involvement in the gang rape of a woman in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila. 

They are Hasan Ali Bulu and Jashim Uddin. Their names were not mentioned in the first information report, but police held them based on information gleaned from other arrested accused.

Elias Sharif, superintendent of Noakhali police, said a team from Char Jabbar Police Station arrested Bulu in Chattogram city's West Madarbari area around noon. Another team held Jashim from Nazirhat in the morning. 

With the two, seven people, including Awami League leader Ruhul Amin who allegedly ordered his accomplices to rape the mother of four for voting for “sheaf of paddy”, have been arrested in connection with the rape that sparked protest and condemnation.

Four of them were mentioned in the FIR. Nine people were sued over the incident.    

The name of Ruhul, also a former union parishad member, was not included in the FIR.

Talking to reporters, the SP said Bulu was the personal assistant to Ruhul. During investigation, it was revealed that Bulu had hired people for Tk 10,000 to rape the woman.

The police officer also said Bulu had an altercation with the victim at a polling station in Sunday's national election and he also threatened her following the quarrel.

“Whoever is the offender will not be spared,” the SP said, adding that they would arrest others involved in the incident soon.

“They will submit a charge sheet of the case and ensure trial of the case at the Speedy Trial Tribunal.”  

The woman was gang-raped allegedly by 10 to 12 accomplices of Ruhul, who is the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL, at her home early Monday.

Meanwhile, expressing deep concern over the rape, Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday said, “This incident put our democratic and fundamental rights, and the freedom of expression under threat.”

“The incident made us disgraceful as a nation. Such an incident is difficult to imagine in any democratic country.”

He also demanded the perpetrators be brought to book, said a press release of Gonoforum.

A team of Left Democratic Alliance yesterday visited Noakhali General Hospital where the 35-year-old victim was being treated.

It demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and their punishment through quick trial.

Protesting the rape, Chhatra League (JSD-Ambia), student body of a faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal led by Sharif Nurul Ambia, formed a human chain in front of Raju Memorial Sculpture on Dhaka University campus yesterday.

In another development, a delegation of 15 senior BNP leaders, led by its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will visit Noakhali General Hospital today to enquire about the victim, said a release.

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The BNP high command has directed the party candidates of Sunday's polls to collect centre-wise results and information on “election anomalies” by today.

The party will compile all the data and submit them to the Election Commission soon, its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told The Daily Star yesterday.

On Monday night, the Jatiya Oikyafront leaders decided to submit a memorandum to the EC on December 3 compiling information on all “polls irregularities”.

Fakhrul will hold a meeting with the candidates at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office tomorrow morning, said Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of the party.

A letter was sent to each of the candidates yesterday asking them to provide eight types of information, including on election anomalies, arrests and killings of BNP men, to the party, he said.

The ruling Awami League secured a landslide victory in Sunday's polls. The Oikyafront, led by the BNP and several other parties, rejected the result and demand a reelection.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda ruled out the demand saying there was no scope for holding any fresh election.

The BNP high command would prepare a summary report and brief foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka following the compilation of data on the centre-wise results and alleged polls anomalies, said a party source.

The high command was observing the overall situation and the reaction of the international community over the election.

Asked about the party's next course of action, a senior leader said they would not do anything hurriedly. 

“We will take some time as the party leaders and activists are devastated by government repression. We will certainly devise our next course of action once we turn around,” BNP Standing Committee member Moudud Ahmed said.

The BNP high-ups have already decided that MPs elected from the party would not take oath as they have rejected the results alleging various polls irregularities, including ballot-stuffing and driving away of their polling agents.

A senior leader from the Oikyafront wishing anonymity said the main challenge for the BNP was to keep the unity within the combine and the 20-party alliance intact.

The Oikyafront nominated candidates in 299 constituencies, only seven of them won.

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Outgoing ministers yesterday expressed hopes that the new cabinet members would play a key role in accelerating the pace of development.

After holding the office for 10 years, outgoing finance minister AMA Muhith said, “I think the change that has been brought is good….It is fine.”

Muhith, who turns 85 this month, smiled as he told reporters that he was glad that he didn't have to leave the post “in disgrace”.

“It is a matter of happiness that no one had to show me the door, I myself took farewell.”

At the commerce ministry, outgoing minister Tofail Ahmed told a farewell ceremony that the new faces in the cabinet were qualified and tested leaders of the Awami League, reports BSS.

“I hope the newly formed cabinet will play a vibrant role in accelerating the ongoing development. Bangladesh will witness new feats of development….” he said.

He urged officials of the commerce ministry to discharge their duties with sincerity and honesty to implement the ongoing development programmes within the next five years.

Addressing a farewell ceremony at the shipping ministry, Shahjahan Khan said, “I will not retire from politics till my last breath. I'll cordially accept any responsibility that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina bestows on me.”

At another event, former health minister Mohammed Nasim hoped that the new cabinet members would gain people's confidence.

Former food minister Qamrul Islam said, “I hope the ongoing development will continue.”

Former social welfare minister Rashed Khan Menon urged officials of the ministry not to neglect the plight of people with disabilities.

Former education minister Nurul Islam Nahid hoped his successor would take the ministry to a new height.

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Sheikh Hasina, who is set to take oath today as the prime minister for the third consecutive term, has dropped most of her colleagues in the outgoing cabinet, aiming to inject fresh blood in her new government.

President Abdul Hamid yesterday appointed Hasina as the PM, and upon her advice appointed 46 ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told The Daily Star last night.

Hasina dropped 34 of the 47 ministers, including Awami League bigwigs Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Mohammed Nasim and Matia Chowdhury, to induct 27 new faces and four former ministers in the 47-member council of ministers set to take oath today.

The president of the AL, which won the December 30 election by a landslide, did not include in the new cabinet anyone from her party's electoral allies.

There were six ministers and state ministers -- three from the Jatiya Party and one each from the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Workers Party and Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) -- in the outgoing cabinet.

The new council of ministers will be a single-party one for the first time in 22 years.

Following the restoration of democracy in early 90s, the first BNP-led government was formed only with its lawmakers. After that, all successive cabinets comprised lawmakers of more than one party.

Setting a rare instance, the cabinet secretary at a press briefing at his secretariat office yesterday announced the names and portfolios of the new ministers before their oath-taking.

“The cabinet will start working after the ministers take oath at 3:30pm tomorrow [today] at the Bangabhaban. Once the new cabinet members are sworn in, the previous cabinet will automatically be replaced by the new one,” said Shafiul.

Replying to a question whether there is a possibility of expanding this cabinet, he said, “So far, this one is preliminary and final.”

The new council of ministers has 24 ministers, except for the PM, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers.

Three technocrats have also made it to the cabinet -- Yeafesh Osman, Mustafa Jabbar and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Yeafesh and Jabbar were technocrat ministers also in the outgoing cabinet.

Like in the previous term, Yeafesh will remain as science and technology minister and Jabbar as telecommunications and ICT Minister.

Besides, Abdullah, also AL religious affairs secretary, has been made state minister for religious affairs.

Hasina kept in her hand the Cabinet Division, the public administration ministry, the defence ministry, the Armed Forces Division, the power, energy and mineral resources ministry, and the women and children affairs ministry.

The AL-led grand alliance secured 288 seats -- the AL 257, the JP 22 and others 9 -- in the December 30 election.

The BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront, which got only seven seats, rejected the election results, citing widespread irregularities. It has demanded a fresh election.

On Thursday, Hasina was elected the chief of the AL parliamentary party, paving the way for her to become the PM for a record fourth time.

On the same day, the president invited her to form a new government as she secured confidence of the majority of her party lawmakers.

BIG SHOTS LEFT OUT

Following the death of Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam on Thursday and resignation of four technocrat ministers last month, the size of the council of ministers stood at 48, including the PM, 28 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers.

Of the 28 ministers, Hasina dropped 23. They are AMA Muhith, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Nurul Islam Nahid, Shajahan Khan, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Mazibul Hoque, Mostafizur Rahman, Asaduzzaman Noor, Emaj Uddin Pramanik, Narayan Chandra Chanda, Shamsur Rahman Sharif, Kamrul Islam and AKM Shajahan Kamal.

Only five ministers of the outgoing cabinet got berth in the new one. They are Road Transport and Bridges Minister and AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Mustafa Kamal has been made finance minister while the portfolios of the other four remain unchanged.

Of the 19 state ministers, nine have been left out. They are Mujibul Haque (Chunnu), Mirza Azam, Biren Sikder, Ismat Ara Sadique, Meher Afroz Chumki, Tarana Halim, Muhammad Nazrul Islam, Moshiur Rahman Ranga and Kazi Keramat Ali.

Among eight other state ministers, five were promoted to ministers. They are MA Mannan, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Zahid Maleque and Nuruzzaman Ahmed.

Shahriar Alam, Nasrul Hamid and Zunaid Ahmed Palak will have their existing portfolios.

Two deputy ministers -- Abdullah Al Islam Jacob and Arif Khan Joy -- were also left out of the new cabinet.

Asked about the reasons behind the exclusion of so many senior leaders from the new cabinet, four AL central leaders told The Daily Star yesterday that only the party chief knows about it.

The leaders further said the party president might have made the move to promote young leaders.

NO MEMBERS FROM ALLIES

In the outgoing cabinet, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon was the social welfare minister, JSD (Inu) President Hasanul Haq Inu the information minister and JP (Manju) President Anwar Hossain Manju the water resources minster.

None of them has been included in the new cabinet.

There were also three leaders from HM Ershad-led JP in the outgoing cabinet. But this time, the party decided to be the main opposition in parliament with no representation in the new cabinet.

During the 1996-2001 tenure of the Hasina-led government, two ministers were from parties other than the AL. They were Manju and JSD President ASM Rob.

When the BNP-led alliance formed government in 2001, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia inducted two Jamaat-e-Islami leaders -- Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed -- into her cabinet.

In 2009 when Hasina came to power for the second time, she included JP leader GM Quader and Samyabadi Dal General Secretary Dilip Barua in her cabinet. Inu was made minister later.

Yesterday, two central AL leaders told this newspaper that the council of ministers is likely to be expanded and leaders from the AL's allies will be inducted into it.

The expansion may take place within a couple of weeks, they mentioned.

FIRST TIMERS

Among the 47 members in the new council of ministers, 27 are first timers.

Besides, four of them -- Abdur Razzaque, Dipu Moni, Hasan Mahmud and Begum Monnuzan Sufian-- were members of the Hasina-led cabinet in 2009-2014.

AKM Abdul Momen, brother of outgoing finance minister Muhith, has been made the foreign minister, and SM Rejaul Karim the housing and public works minister. Both of them became lawmakers for the first time through the December 30 polls.

Besides, Zaheed Farooque from Barishal has been made a state minister while AL organising secretaries AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem from Shariatpur and Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury from Chattogram have been made deputy ministers.

All three became MPs for the first time through this election.

MINORITY, WOMEN IN NEW CABINET

Like the outgoing cabinet, the new one will have three members from minority communities.

Sadhan Chandra Majumder from Naogaon-1 has been made the food minister and Swapan Bhattacharya from Jashore-5 the state minister for LGRD and cooperatives.

Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, a lawmaker from Bandarban and state minister for CHT affairs in the outgoing cabinet, has been made minister of the CHT affairs ministry.

Kalpa Ranjan Chakma had held the post during the Hasina-led government's tenure in 1996-2001.

The new cabinet will also have three women members. The number was four in the outgoing cabinet.

Dipu Moni, an MP from Chandpur-3, has been made education minister. She was foreign minister during the AL-led government's tenure in 2009-2014.

Khulna-3 lawmaker Begum Monnuzan Sufian, who was state minister for labour and employment ministry in 2009-2014, has been given the same portfolio this time.

Bagerhat-3 MP Begum Habibun Nahar, wife of Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khalek, has been made deputy minister for environment, forest and climate change.

Hasina kept the women and children affairs ministry in her hand.

Meher Afroz Chumki was the state minister for women and children affairs in the outgoing cabinet.

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Seven MPs-elect of Jatiya Oikyafront yesterday refrained from taking oath and the alliance claimed that ruling party men had stuffed the boxes with “30 to 60” percent of the ballots the night before the polls.

Hours after 289 newly elected lawmakers took oath at the parliament complex yesterday, an eight-member delegation led by Oikyafront spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went to the Election Commission and handed over a memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda.

In the memorandum, the alliance also alleged that the administration was blatantly used against the people. It was a "breach of trust and the voters were deceived”, the Oikyafront said.

"This election is a cruel mockery of the people,” Fakhrul, also the BNP secretary general, told reporters afterwards.

"There is no question of taking oath as we have rejected the results,” he said replying to a query about whether the seven lawmakers-elect would take oath.

Raising allegations of widespread ballot stuffing and irregularities, Oikyafront rejected the results of Sunday's polls and demanded immediate national election under a nonpartisan neutral government.

The alliance yesterday submitted some “evidence of election-related anomalies and undue influence since the announcement of election schedule”.

"We've submitted evidence to the commission. We hope they [commission] will review those,” Fakhrul said. "The nation was pushed into darkness through this cruel drama in the name of election.”

The AL rowdies with the help of law enforcers forced all shops to close across the country before 9:00pm the night before the election to create a ghostly atmosphere, the memorandum said.

After stuffing the ballot boxes at night, they cast false votes during election day and voters were forced to vote for boat, it said.

It said ballot papers in almost all polling centres ran out by noon and in many cases polling officials took lunch breaks.

The night before the polls, AL men terrorised voters and threatened them with dire consequences if they went to vote, the Oikyafront claimed, adding that the AL men showed off their muscle power at intersections to intimidate voters.

“Law enforcers did not take any steps when help was sought.”

Counting of votes began before 4:00pm at many places, the Oikyafront said, adding that the EC's role was mysterious.

It said the EC and the courts cancelled candidature of 18 Oikyafront candidates and at least 16 other candidates were arrested.

There was no change in the civil and police administration. Judicial and executive magistrates were made inactive, it claimed.

“The media and the social media were controlled and the army was made inactive,” it said.

The EC must take the responsibilities of depriving the people of the country from exercising their right to vote, it said.

BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan, Moyeen Khan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President ASM Abdur Rob, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddique, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Gono Forum leader Mostofa Mohsin Mantu were in the Oikyafront delegation.

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