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BNP candidate Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan has been elected in Brahmanbaria-2 following yesterday's re-polling in three centres of the constituency.
Sattar bagged 1,274 votes yesterday and won with a total of 83,997 votes.
His closest rival Moyeen Uddin, an independent, bagged a total of 75,419.
Sattar had already been leading the polls with 82,723 votes, said Election Commission officials.
The number of constituents under the centres was 10,572. Only 4,300 voted yesterday, said Returning Officer Hayat-Ud-Dwollah Khan as he announced the unofficial result.
There were a total 132 polling centres in Brahmanbaria-2.
Voting was suspended in three centres during the December 30 election due to violence. The centres are Jatrapur Government Primary School, Bahadurpur Government Primary School and Sohagpur Dakkhin Government Primary School.
Including this, eight lawmakers have been elected from the BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront. The Awami League-led alliance won 288 seats.
International media widely covered yesterday's national election that saw deadly clashes and accusations of vote rigging.
In a news report, the Associated Press said it received more than 50 calls from people across Bangladesh, who identified themselves as opposition supporters.
They complained of intimidation and threats, and being forced to vote in front of ruling party men inside polling booths, it mentioned.
"Hasina's use of the state machinery to subjugate the opposition virtually ensures her electoral victory," Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a South Asia analyst for the New York-based Eurasia Group, told AP.
Minutes before the polls opened, a BBC correspondent saw filled ballot boxes at a polling centre in Chittagong city. The presiding officer declined to comment.
Only the ruling party's polling agents were present there and several other polling centres in the port city.
BBC's South Asia Regional Editor Anbarasan Ethirajan said if the opposition's claims of widespread vote rigging are proved, then it will likely to raise questions over the credibility of the election process and the legitimacy of the new government, according to a BBC report.
The Guardian in its report headlined “Bangladesh opposition reject 'farcical' election and demand new vote”, mentioned that dozens of candidates pulled out, claiming the ruling Awami League rigged the country's first contested election in a decade.
The Election Commission told Reuters that it was investigating allegations of vote rigging coming from across the country.
“Allegations are coming from across the country and those are under investigation,” SM Asaduzzaman, a spokesman for the EC, told the news agency.
The Economic Times of India reported that the voting in a tense election to choose a new government in Bangladesh ended amid allegations of manipulations by ruling party men.
The Times of India highlighted the introduction of EVMs in six parliamentary constituencies for the first time in a general election, a move which received mixed responses from the voters amid reports of glitches at some booths.
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Condemning violence in Bangladesh, the United Nations has urged all sides to show restraint and ensure a peaceful post electoral environment in the country.
The USA and the European Union have also denounced violence over the just concluded parliamentary elections, and called for addressing all electoral complaints in a peaceful manner.
Welcoming the participation of all major political parties in the general election for the first time in 10 years, they said it was a positive development which reflected aspirations of people for democracy.
The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement on Monday said, “The United Nations is aware of violent incidents and reports of irregularities in the Bangladesh general election.”
The UN regretted the loss of life and injuries sustained by candidates and voters during the electoral campaign and on the voting day, it said.
US STATEMENT
The US in a statement yesterday commended the Bangladeshis who voted in the election as well as the decision of all major opposition parties to participate.
“The United States remains deeply invested in the future of Bangladesh and its democratic development. The United States is Bangladesh's largest foreign investor, largest single-country market for Bangladeshi exports, and home to a large community of Americans of Bangladeshi origin,” said Robert Palladino, deputy spokesperson of the US state department.
However, it expressed concern over reports of harassment, intimidation, and violence in the pre-election period saying that those incidents made it difficult for many opposition candidates and their supporters to meet, hold rallies, and campaign freely. “We are also concerned that election-day irregularities prevented some people from voting, which undermined faith in the electoral process.”
He said his country strongly encourages all parties to refrain from violence and request the EC to work constructively with all sides to address claims of irregularities.
“Bangladesh's impressive record of economic development and respect for democracy and human rights are mutually reinforcing, and we look forward to continue working with the ruling government and opposition towards advancing these interrelated goals,” reads the statement.
EU STATEMENT
The EU said the mobilisation of voters and the participation of the opposition in the polls reflected the people's aspirations for democracy.
“However, violence has marred the election day, and significant obstacles to a level playing field remained in place throughout the process and have tainted the electoral campaign and the vote,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement yesterday.
Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy of the EU, in his statement said the relevant authorities should now ensure a proper examination of allegations of irregularities and commit to full transparency in their resolution.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said she would not say anything about Sunday's national election.
She said this when reporters asked her about the election after a hearing of the Niko graft case at a makeshift court inside the Old Dhaka Central Jail.
As she was being taken back to her cell in a wheelchair, she said, “My legs ache too much.”
During the hearing, she told the court, “I won't come to the court if it sits at a place like this. The court can't run here. Our people can't come here. Give me sentence if you want….I won't come to this court.”
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka said, “Start the charge hearing afresh as I am new in this case. I will hear everyone's speech.”
After that, Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission Mosharraf Hossain Kajol read out the charges against Khaleda and 10 others.
BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, an accused in the case, told the court, “We are yet to get the documents stating the allegations against us although we have applied for them before. We need to read those documents to be able to fight the legal battle.”
He also said the setting of the court was not appropriate for holding a trial as there was no proper seating arrangement for lawyer and others.
Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol argued that the defense was trying to delay the charge framing by saying those things.
The court fixed January 13 for the next hearing.
The judge also kept a petition in the case file submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on November 22 last year seeking permission to produce an FBI agent and two Canadian police as witnesses before the court to testify.
On December 9, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing Khaleda and 10 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko.
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