President Abdul Hamid has invited Awami League President Sheikh Hasina to form government as she has gained the confidence of the majority of the members of the Parliament.

The invitation came after the current Premier Sheikh Hasina went to meet him at the Bangabhaban this afternoon, said Press Secretary to the president Joynal Abedin.

Earlier, Sheikh Hasina was unanimously elected chief of the Awami League Parliamentary Party (ALPP) for the 11th Jatiya Sangsad during the first session of ALPP this afternoon.

THE ELECTION RESULT

The Awami League-led Grand Alliance secured a landslide victory in the national election held on Sunday, December 30, winning in 288 out of 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad.

Almost 82 percent of the lawmakers for the 11th parliament have assets worth more than Tk 1 crore, civil society platform Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) said in a report yesterday.

Of those MPs, 32 percent have assets worth more than Tk 5 crore, according to the report unveiled at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.

According to finance ministry sources, only 0.06 percent of the total population of Bangladesh was valued at more than Tk 1 crore in 2016.     

“The wealthier candidates were elected,” Dilip Kumar Sarkar, Shujan's central coordinator, said while presenting the report.

In terms of income, 27 percent of the MPs have an income of over Tk 1 crore, 18 percent between Tk 50 lakh and 1 crore, 29 percent between Tk 25 lakh and 50 lakh and 17 percent between Tk 5 lakh and Tk 25 lakh.

Only five percent of the lawmakers had an income between Tk 2 and Tk 5 lakh while 1.34 percent of them had an income of less than Tk 2 lakh.

The report also mentioned that 1.34 percent of the MPs had not submitted their wealth statements in their affidavits.

It further showed that 61 percent of the next parliament is made up of businessmen and their number in the Jatiya Sangsad was increasing.

Additionally, 13 percent are lawyers, five percent servicemen, four percent farmers and the rest belonged to different professions.

It is a dangerous sign that the county's politics is going into the hands of businessmen and wealthy people, Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said at the programme.

Political analysts have said the major political parties' dependency on businessmen had effectively turned the politics into a business.

Lawyers, businessmen and farmers were the three most common occupations of the lawmakers elected to the country's first parliament in 1973.

Of the MPs in that parliament, 31 percent were lawyers and only 18 percent were businessmen.

However, in the fifth parliament, constituted through the election of 1991, businessmen outnumbered lawyers, with 38 percent being businessmen and 15 percent lawyers.

After the 2008 polls, 57 percent of the lawmakers elected were businessmen, which rose to 59 percent by 2014.

On a more positive note, Badiul Alam said it was a good sign that educated and taxpaying citizens were being elected as MPs.

The Shujan report shows that 43 percent of the new MPs hold post graduate degrees, 38 percent hold graduate degrees, 12 percent have passed the HSC exams and three percent were SSC graduates.

Only four percent did not pass the SSC exam.

It also said that seven percent of the lawmakers were now facing at least one case, while 45 percent had cases filed against them in the past.

A Jatiya Oikyafront delegation led by Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday walked out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda for what they said was "discourteous behaviour" of the CEC.

The CEC and leaders of the opposition alliance comprising BNP and some other parties were locked in a heated exchange at the meeting over the role of police during the electioneering.

“When we began to complain about the police role, he [CEC] took their side," Nazrul Islam Khan, a standing committee member of BNP, told reporters before leaving the Nirbachan Bhaban.

"We don't expect such behaviour.”

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir too said, "His [CEC's] behaviour was discourteous."

Later at night, the Oikyafront at a press conference demanded immediate resignation of the CEC and appointment of a “neutral person” to the post for the sake of a free and fair parliamentary election.

The alliance said it complained to the Election Commission with evidence of police showing unconstitutional and aggressive attitude, physically assaulting opposition candidates and supporters, harassing leaders and activists going to their houses and obstructing campaigns.

It added that the opposition leaders were not only outraged but also surprised and upset as the CEC rejected the allegations making indecent and biased statements.

The meeting, which lasted for about two hours, came amid the civil society's concerns about the absence of a level playing field and continued attacks on the opposition camps in different parts of the country.

The BNP and other opposition parties have long been alleging that a congenial atmosphere for polls is absent.

Even Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar twice said there was no level playing field. But the CEC never agreed on this and the discord between the two hogged the headlines as they publicly spoke against each other over the issue.

According to media reports, motorcades and campaigns of at least 45 candidates of Oikyafront and the BNP-led 20-party alliance have been attacked allegedly by AL men.

And over 1,050 people, mostly BNP men, have been injured in the electoral violence since campaigning began on December 10.

The BNP also alleges that its leaders and activists are being harassed and arrested throughout the country even while campaigning. The party has lodged a few dozen complaints with the EC.

FROM INSIDE THE MEETING

Yesterday's meeting began around noon.

Dr Kamal Hossain, who was leading the 10-member delegation, started briefing the CEC and other commissioners at the beginning of the meeting.

He alleged that the opposition leaders and activists were being arrested, attacked and even their posters were being torn in different parts of the country, several meeting sources told The Daily Star.

Top leaders of Jatiya Oikyafront, led by Dr Kamal Hossain, walk out of a meeting with the chief election commissioner in protest of the latter's “discourteous behaviour”. The photo was taken at Nirbachan Bhaban yesterday. Photo: Collected

The eminent jurist also said the opposition candidates came under attack by ruling party men and the role of police was questionable.

"You are the chief election commissioner. Right now you are more powerful than the prime minister with regard to election," he said, according to multiple sources.

"I am begging you that please take steps to hold a free and fair election. Save the country and uphold democracy.

 “I had the privilege to do politics with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. I never saw such an election atmosphere in my life."

He also said some police officials were acting like "beasts".

The CEC told Dr Kamal, "You cannot label a force in such a way. Whatever police are doing are within the legal framework. Who do you think you are?"

Other commissioners tried to calm him down.

Dr Kamal then said, "You are the judge. You are not a witness. You should investigate the incidents and take action. You should not take any side.

"If you don't take any action within a day or two, I may get killed. But don't you attend my namaz-e-janaza."

DEMANDS, COMPLAINTS

After this altercation, Oikyafront leaders demanded withdrawal of four police officials -- officers-in-charge of Muradnagar and Nangalkot police stations and Detective Branch of Dhaka and a sub-inspector of Keraniganj Police Station.

BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul, Abdul Moyeen Khan and Mirza Abbas, Gonoforum leaders Mostafa Mohsin Montu and Subrata Chowdhury shared their experiences.

They sought EC's intervention in ensuring a free and fair election and "restraining the police from terrorising and intimidating the opposition candidates”

The leaders cited 88 cases of attacks on candidates by the AL “where no protection was provided by the police”, the meeting sources said.

Gonoforum leader Mostafa Mohsin Montu, a candidate of Jatiya Oikyafront for the December 30 polls, talked about police excesses and showed the CEC injury marks in his hands.

BNP leader Mirza Abbas said he has never gone to anyone with complaints before. "But now I came here with complaints. Please take some steps."

Abdul Moyeen Khan said, "I never say anything to anyone. I want to campaign as a gentleman. My men were beaten up before my eyes. I could not save them at this age."

Hearing all this, the CEC said, "The allegations against police are baseless. If there is any such incident, show me."

Then a member of the delegation said, "Let's go to any constituency and see for yourself."

The CEC then responded, "I am rejecting your allegations."

Dr Kamal right away stood up and said, "I will not stay here anymore and will never come to you."

The delegation then left the conference room.

BNP yesterday lauded the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study over irregularities in the December 30 national election and said it was a “cause for heartburn” for both the government and the Election Commission.

“The government's ministers and the Election Commission have been failing to hide their faces in shame as TIB has unveiled the absolute truth about vote rigging,” BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed said yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka, Rizvi said now their [the government and EC] efforts to conceal the truth has gone in vain as people are informed of everything that transpired the day before national election.

TIB, in its study on Tuesday, said electoral irregularities like stamping ballot papers the night before the polls and ballot stuffing by capturing booths on election day happened in 47 out of 50 constituencies that were surveyed at random.

Rizvi, also the spokesperson of BNP, said different international organisations have come up with reports on vote rigging in the December 30 national election while several democratic countries termed the election questionable.

“They did not recognise the fake election; they even demanded investigation into the allegation of vote rigging. World leaders have also described the election as the worst in history,” the BNP leader said.

Mentioning that people sacrificed their lives for the country's independence, Rizvi said they [people] will do the same, if necessary, for the sake of their voting rights and democracy.