Urging BNP to find out the reasons behind its defeat in the last general election, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said a party that failed to mobilise people for a movement cannot win public support in the election fray.

“BNP has many reasons for their defeat in the December 30 election. One is their failure to wage anti-government agitation involving people,” she said.

The prime minister was addressing a discussion marking Bangabandhu's Home Coming Day from Pakistani prison on January 10, 1972 after Bangladesh got independence.

Bangladesh Awami League Central Working Committee organised the discussion at Bangladesh Krishibid Institution.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also President of the Awami League, was in the chair while party leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Matia Chowdhury Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Abdur Rahman, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, AKM Rahmatullah and Shah Alam Murad, among others, took part in the discussion.

Party leaders Dr Hasan Mahmud and Aminul Islam conducted the meeting.

Other reasons for BNP's debacle in the election is their misdeeds in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the prime minister said, adding that people didn't forget their mayhem when they torched more than 3,900 transports, burnt more than 3,500 people of whom more than 500 succumbed to injuries.

“Women, children, elderly persons, students and even trees could not escape from their attacks. So, how can they expect that people will vote for them?” she asked.

The Prime Minister said choosing a fugitive convict to head the party is also a major cause for BNP's defeat in the election.

“As their main leader is serving in prison for stealing an orphanage's money, her son was made acting chairperson, who was convicted in a number of cases including a case for smuggling 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition, the 21 August grenade attack and a money laundering case where FBI has given deposition against him.

“Was there no leader in BNP except a convicted person to be made their chairman?” Sheikh Hasina asked.

She said trading with nomination is another major cause of BNP's disaster in the election.

“They [BNP] put their nomination in auction and the highest bidder got nomination. Many of them met with me and spoke of their anguish,” she said.

Above all, the prime minister said BNP has given nomination to 25 leaders of Jamaat the entity of which was declared illegal by the country's highest court.

She said, “People of Bangladesh now believe in the spirit of the Liberation War and they will never vote for any war criminal.”

Sheikh Hasina said the Father of the Nation has liberated the country, but people of Bangladesh suffered immensely for 29 years from 1975 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2008 as anti-liberation forces ruled the country during that time.

“People of Bangladesh found prosperity only when Awami League was in power as the party is guided by the principles of Bangabandhu,” she said, adding that “economic emancipation of the people is our main goal and we want to establish peace and security in public life.”

The prime minister said Awami League had framed its election manifesto aimed at making Bangladesh a developed and prosperous nation in South Asia.

She said post 1975 rulers had tried to thwart out all achievements of Bangladesh by killing Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975.

Bangladesh could not go ahead because of their conspiracy and failure.

During the discussion, Sheikh Hasina expressed gratitude to the countrymen for casting their vote for Awami League and to the professionals for overwhelming support in the election.

She said next five years would be a hard time for her party as the government must continue the pace of development and take forward Bangladesh toward prosperity as pledged by it.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today said this election has become a mockery.

The BNP leader made the comments to The Daily Star at the Syedpur Airport in Nilphamari when he was returning to Dhaka from Thakurgaon after voting ended today at 4:00pm.

Ruling party men and police worked hand in hand during this election, Fakhrul said.

“This is the death of democracy,” he further added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who led her party to a landslide victory in the national election, may come up with a surprise by inducting new faces into the cabinet, likely to be formed on Sunday.

On the other hand, she may exclude some current cabinet members with “tainted images” for their "controversial roles” during the last five years in power, said party insiders.

Hasina may pick the new faces with clean images to present the country a new leadership, they said.

President Abdul Hamid will appoint members of the new cabinet on the PM's advice and administer their oath at the Bangabhaban.

According to ruling Awami League sources, some leaders who did not get party nomination for the December 30 polls may find themselves in the cabinet as a “reward”. Besides, the cabinet is likely to have three to four technocrat ministers.

The Daily Star talked with several AL leaders about the formation of the next cabinet. But the PM did not officially discuss anything about it with them, they said.

Hasina is now leading a 49-member cabinet comprising 30 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers. Four technocrat ministers resigned last month.

The AL sealed victory in the national polls for the third consecutive time, securing a two-thirds majority. Out of the 298 seats, the AL-led alliance won in 288 and of them the ruling party itself got 259 seats.

According to AL leaders, Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, also former general secretary of the party, may be dropped from the cabinet due to his illness. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Food Minister Qamrul Islam, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Textiles and Jute Minister Emaj Uddin Pramanik and Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan are also likely to be left out.

Besides, State Minister for Information Tarana Halim, State Minister for Health Zahid Maleque, State Minister for Social Welfare Nuruzzaman Ahmed and Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Arif Khan Joy also may not get any place in the new cabinet.

Of them, Maya and Joy didn't get party nomination for Sunday's       election.

According to sources, the MPs-elect and some leaders are lobbying the prime minister and her close aides hard to be in the cabinet.

On several occasions in the past, Finance Minister AMA Muhith had said he would retire after the polls. But on Tuesday, he said he may remain as the minister for another year if the PM wanted him to do so.

In that case, Muhith may continue to be at the helm of the finance ministry as a technocrat minister.

Telecom and ICT minister Mustafa Jabbar and Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, who resigned from cabinet before the polls, might to be inducted in the cabinet again as technocrat ministers.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim, LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayan Chandra Chanda, State Minister for Finance MA Mannan, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam, State Minister for Youth and Sports Biren Sikder, State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid and State Minister for Environment Abdullah Al Islam Jacob are likely to continue as ministers. But there might be changes in their portfolio, party insiders said.

Besides, some new faces, including AL presidium members Lt Col (Retd) Muhammad Faruq Khan and Abdur Razzak; the PM's Private Sector Affairs Adviser Salman F Rahman, AL Joint General Secretary Dipu Moni, party's Cultural Affairs Secretary Asim Kumar Ukil, Liberation War Affairs Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, Organising Secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and central committee member RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury also have good chances to be included in the new cabinet.

Of them, the name of Faruq Khan is being discussed as the foreign minister.

Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who won from Narail-2, is likely to be a state minister if he does not participate in the cricket World Cup starting in May. If he plays in the WC, he will get the position after the tournament.   

Besides, leaders from the AL's allies, including Jatiya Party, Jatiya Party (Manju), Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), would be in Hasina's new cabinet, insiders added.

The Election Commission touted the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) as a foolproof alternative to the traditional method of ballot paper, but that too fell prey to sweeping abuse yesterday.

Some 5,045 EVMs were deployed in 845 polling centres in six constituencies -- Dhaka-6 and -13, Chattogram 9, Rangpur 3, Khulna 2 and Satkhira 2 -- and the common complaint of voters was that their ballots were cast by someone else in their presence.

This was feared by majority of the registered parties, including the BNP and its allies, who said the deployment of the instrument would facilitate “the government's plan for election engineering”.

Voters are in a queue at Rayerbazar Community Centre in Dhaka city on Sunday, December 30, 2018. Photo: Sujit Sarker

Another problem with the new voting method used during the 11th general elections was that polling was halted for several hours at many booths for malfunctioning units.

In theory, the EVMs would be activated by the voter's smart card, voter number or national identification number.

The voter would then have to use his/her fingerprint for verification purpose and then proceed to cast vote on the balloting unit, which would be kept in a separate room.

As a result, the voting process would be immune to rigging. When the system worked as it was supposed to, the voting experience was quick and fuss-free, many said.

But what transpired for the most part yesterday was far from it: party activists preyed on voters, most of whom were unfamiliar with the workings of the EVM.

Take the case of Rahima Begum, a resident of CRB area under Kotwali Thana of Chattogram. She was eagerly looking forward to voting on the EVM, but her curiosity turned to despair at the polling booth.

A lady offered to guide her through the use of EVM. “She took my fingerprint and asked me to leave,” the 45-year-old told The Daily Star.

The confirmation on computer after successfully voting in EVM. Photo: Star/Sujit Sarker

She was told her voting was completed, much to her bewilderment. “When I tried to know on which symbol the vote was cast, they simply told me to leave,” Rahima added.

Similar accounts were heard from Khulna-2 constituency, particularly from female voters.

An excited Shelly Begum arrived to cast her vote at Sher-e-Bangla Primary School but a young lady pressed the button to cast the vote on the EVM -- before Shelly could do it herself.

“I could not cast my vote because of that lady,” said an annoyed Shelly.

Sarmin Sultana had a similar experience when she went to vote around 1:00pm. Two women of Awami League tried to enter the voting room with her to guide her through the process.

But when she declined their help, they dragged her out of the centre.

When it was not the case of unwitting voters being exploited, it was the party activists themselves who proceeded to cast votes for absentee voters on the EVM with the help of presiding officers.

Our correspondent visited Wari Girls' Government Primary School at about 2:20pm and saw a young man giving voting numbers to the polling officer, who was inputting the numbers on the EVM one by one.

The voters' profiles were flashing on the screen -- and none of the photos that came up matched with the faces nearby. The young man was using his fingerprint to unlock the voting page for the numbers and understandably they would not match.

Then another man swooped in and used his fingerprint, which unlocked the voting page. Soon after, the correspondent saw that the screen was flashing the message: 'Your voting has been completed'.

When the fingerprints do not match on the EVM, the assistant presiding officers have the authority to unlock the system for 25 percent of the cases.

The correspondent then went to Sher-e-Bangla Balika Mahavidyalaya next, where he saw a similar sight.

In fact, it was more pronounced here: almost all the polling booths had someone else casting votes on behalf of others.

The correspondent approached the presiding officer Shahidur Rahman Khan in his cabin and informed him of the incidents. “I do not know anything of this nature,” he said.

Similar scenes of the system being gamed were seen at the voting centres of Dhaka-6.

At about 3:00pm at Kamrunnesa Government Girls High School, a lady was complaining at the top of her voice that her vote had already been cast. Agitated, she went to the presiding officer to inform of the foul play, but it came to no use.

The correspondent then went up to the polling officer, who seemed resigned to what was unfolding at venue. “There is nothing I can do about it,” he said, requesting anonymity.

Another correspondent arrived at the Sutrapur Community Centre 10 minutes before polls closed and found the venue buzzing with people.

Security forces came in and asked everyone except the polling agents to leave. A swarm of people rushed to leave the venue, and all were wearing badges of the Grand Alliance.

Asked about the large presence of people with no EC passes, the polling agent Fahad said: “It's because the EVM is complicated to use -- we had volunteers to guide them through the process.”

Over at Dhaka-13, voting was paused at six booths in five centres for two to six hours for malfunctioning EVMs. Those who arrived in that time frame had to leave without voting.

The Daily Star visited 17 centres in the constituency and found several machines were unable to read fingerprints.

At Mohammadpur Girls High School, a man complained that polling agents wearing 'Boat' badges were shadowing voters to the balloting room and intimidating them to cast their vote for Awami League.

Awami League candidate Sadek Khan was contesting against BNP's Abdus Salam and Jatiya Party's Shafiqul Islam for the seat.

Voting was still going on at the venue at around 4:15pm.

The assistant presiding officer was seen helping five youths unlock the voting system with his fingerprint. As a photographer tried to take a picture, a youth wearing the 'Boat' badge threatened her and told her to leave.

Over at Satkhira-2, EVMs in two booths of Mridanga and Rajnagar centres were not functioning from the onset. The devices were flown in by helicopter to Dhaka for repair. They were not returned to booths until 3:00pm, our correspondent reported.

A similar incident took place at Nurpur Government Primary School of Rangpur-3 constituency. After being repaired in Dhaka, the EVM was flown in to the venue at about 4:00pm, when voting started again and went on until 6:00pm.

But it was not all bad news: many voters quite enjoyed casting their votes with the EVM.

“It took all of three minutes to cast my vote,” said Mohammad Sohel, a 30-year-old voter after casting his vote at Suritola Model Government Primary School.

Just two buttons need to be pressed to cast one's vote, said Osama Rahman, a young voter.

“It's just so easy to use,” he added.

Delwar Hossain Khokon, a 40-year-old, waxed lyrical about the system after casting his vote at Banglabazar Government Primary School.

“It is a good system if there are no anomalies in voting,” he said.

Claiming the December 30 election to be “farcical”, Jatiya Oikyafront Convener Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday called for a national dialogue to find out ways for holding a fresh election as per the constitution.

“We had to witness a farce in the name of an election. It won't bring any legality and stability. This can, in no way, be accepted,” said the noted jurist.

He came up with these remarks while addressing a discussion organised by the Gonoforum at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, marking the historic Homecoming Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Dr Kamal, who presided over the discussion, urged all the political parties to sit for a dialogue in a bid to discuss the formation of an elected government by holding a fresh election as per the constitution.

Dr Kamal, who is also the president of the Gonoforum, said, “A sane person cannot play such a game with the country's 17 crore people. This can't be done unless a person is mentally imbalanced.”

He also questioned if there was anyone who could call the election a free and fair one.

“It's regrettable what happened in the name of election even after 48 years [of the country's independence]. It was not supposed to happen.”

The eminent jurist said the election was held on the night of December 29 instead of December 30.

 “Why did they do that? I would like ask them what is the necessity of doing such an unusual act?  Is it a game? Is it fair to play a game with the country's 17 crore people?”

Dr Kamal also said the December 30 election was a good example of political tricks. “I would like to request you, please refrain from resorting to political tricks and do everything through talks and as per the constitution. There can be no alternative to that.”

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President ASM Abdur Rob, Gonoforum Executive President Subrata Chowdhury, Gonoforum General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Gonoforum MP-elect Mukabbir Khan, Gonoforum leader Maj Gen (retd) Amsa Amin, also spoke among others in the discussion.