Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the process to form the new government is likely to be completed by January 10.

Obaidul Quader came up with the information while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city, marking Awami League's landslide victory in the 11th national elections.

He also said the gazette notification will be published within one to two days and then the newly elected members of parliament will be sworn in.

"After the oath taking, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet the President. Then, the President will request the Prime Minister to form the government," he added.

"It is the concern of the Election Commission. Everything will be done according to the constitution. If any candidate fails to take oath, the election commission will arrange necessary steps according to the constitution. A new schedule will be announced for a by-election to the constituency," he said while answering a question about Oikyafront's decision not to take the oath.

Quader said, "I still believe they (Oikyafront) will not disobey the verdict of the country's people. Earlier, they made a mistake by boycotting the 2014 election. Whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied, it's their party matter. But those who have been elected this time will not show disrespect to the people's verdict by not taking oath."

"Many democratic countries have started congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. If they do not participate in the democratic process, democracy will not be halted for them," he added.

Meanwhile, the senior Awami League urged the party's leaders, activists and supporters not to be revengeful to the opposition and behave carefully.

It's Gonoforam chief Dr Kamal Hossain, not Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, who should quit after accepting his failure, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said yesterday.

He made the comment while addressing an election rally at Latifunnessa High School ground in Cumilla's Chouddagram.

The Jatiya Oikyafront leader failed to demonstrate his leadership, Quader claimed.

“Dr Kamal's words are even more poisonous than formalin. Not the CEC but you [Kamal] should resign,” Quader said.

He also asked why Dr Kamal went to meet the CEC if he demanded his resignation.

People will vote for “boat”, the AL's electoral symbol, in the national elections on Sunday, Quader said.

"The alternatives to 'boat' are petrol bombs, burning people to death, torching educational institutions and vehicles, and blocking roads," he added.

Meanwhile, Jahangir Kabir Nanok, joint secretary general of the ruling AL, alleged the BNP-Jamaat-Oikyafront alliance was distributing illegal money and spreading false allegations and propagandas to destroy the congenial polls environment.

He made the allegations at a press briefing at the party president Shiekh Hasina's Dhanmondi office.

He said Rab arrested three men with Tk 8 crore in cash and Tk 10 crore in cheques on Tuesday. Of them, there were a businessman and a former employee of Hawa Bhaban.

They were carrying a full list of voters of a constituency and that area's BNP nominated candidate's poster with BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman's photo on it, he said.

The primary investigation suggested that the huge amount of money was intended to be distributed to instigate violence and influence polls, Nanok added.

Around Tk 150 crore was distributed across the country in the last two months, he alleged.

He also said, “Tk 200 crore was brought into the country from Dubai through hundi and illegal channels by Tarique Rahman.”

The incident hints a massive conspiracy is taking place against the country and Pakistani intelligence ISI's involvement in the upcoming polls, the AL leader further alleged.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Affairs Adviser and son Sajeeb Wazed Joy today blasted the US embassy alleging that it is "the one that had an ulterior motive" behind what Priya Biswas Saha told Donald Trump recently.  

"They picked Priya Saha because they knew she would make this outrageous statement," Sajeeb Wazed Joy wrote on his Facebook wall this afternoon.

Also READ: Sedition case filed against Priya Saha

In the post, Joy demanded that the US embassy's should refute "an obviously false and outrageous statement made by one of their selected participants to their own Head of State…" as he says in the post that "She (Priya Saha) was a member of a delegation selected by the US Embassy in Dhaka."

Read more

Priya Biswas Saha: Ill motive behind her remarks

"Fortunately for us, President Trump and his administration have a very different policy of non intervention in foreign affairs. They are also not so stupid to believe such a ridiculous claim," he said.

Yesterday, the Bangladesh government also said there seemed to be an ulterior motive behind what Priya Saha's speech.

Terming her remarks absolutely false and concocted, it said they were aimed at maligning the country’s image, reports UNB.

Priya, one of the organising secretaries of Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, told the US president that 37 million Hindu, Buddhist and Christian people have disappeared from Bangladesh.

She was attending a programme at the White House on Thursday.

Priya also told the president that her land had been grabbed by Muslim fundamentalists and sought his help so that Hindu, Buddhist and Christian people could live in Bangladesh.

She also participated in the Second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom held at the US Department of State in Washington, DC on July 16-18.

Delegates from 106 countries, including about 40 foreign ministers, attended the meeting at the invitation of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also took part in the event.

In a media statement yesterday, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protested and condemned in the strongest possible terms “all the blatant lies” that Priya told Trump.

“Bangladesh is a beacon of religious freedom and communal harmony, where people of all faiths have been living in peace for ages,” it said.