Staff Reporter :
The election campaigns for the 11th Parliamentary Poll ended 8:00am on Friday amid widespread allegations of attacks, arrests and threats to opposition activists as well as violation of electoral code of conduct.
On Thursday, election campaigns by Jatiya Oikyafront candidate and former state minister Abu Sayeed in Pabna and Jatiya Party candidate Mahmudul Islam in Chattogram came under attack.
In the country the election is going to be held under a partisan government with participation of all 39 registered political parties, while the 10th Parliamentary election was held on January 5, 2014, amid boycott by most parties including BNP demanding an election-time non-party caretaker government.
Reports received from districts said electioneering and campaign materials including posters of BNP as well as Jatiya Oikyafront candidates were not visible in the respective electoral areas during the campaign since December 10.
Candidates of ruling alliance in almost all constituencies conducted massive electioneering by bringing out processions and expressed their firm belief that they would win due to their ‘development activities’ in the past 10 years.
Though candidates of the main opposition alliance Jatiya Oikyafront, of which BNP is the main component, could rarely conduct showdowns allegedly due to obstructions, they expressed their belief that the people would come out to vote against ‘misrule’ of the incumbents and they would win.
Ruling AL claimed that there was festivity across the country centring the election while opposition candidates alleged that there was no environment for fair election now and that Election Commission utterly failed to ensure level playing field.
Left Democratic Alliance also alleged that their candidates were attacked at places in the country since electioneering began and their campaigns were obstructed at many places.
The election campaigns for the 11th Parliamentary Poll ended 8:00am on Friday amid widespread allegations of attacks, arrests and threats to opposition activists as well as violation of electoral code of conduct.
On Thursday, election campaigns by Jatiya Oikyafront candidate and former state minister Abu Sayeed in Pabna and Jatiya Party candidate Mahmudul Islam in Chattogram came under attack.
In the country the election is going to be held under a partisan government with participation of all 39 registered political parties, while the 10th Parliamentary election was held on January 5, 2014, amid boycott by most parties including BNP demanding an election-time non-party caretaker government.
Reports received from districts said electioneering and campaign materials including posters of BNP as well as Jatiya Oikyafront candidates were not visible in the respective electoral areas during the campaign since December 10.
Candidates of ruling alliance in almost all constituencies conducted massive electioneering by bringing out processions and expressed their firm belief that they would win due to their ‘development activities’ in the past 10 years.
Though candidates of the main opposition alliance Jatiya Oikyafront, of which BNP is the main component, could rarely conduct showdowns allegedly due to obstructions, they expressed their belief that the people would come out to vote against ‘misrule’ of the incumbents and they would win.
Ruling AL claimed that there was festivity across the country centring the election while opposition candidates alleged that there was no environment for fair election now and that Election Commission utterly failed to ensure level playing field.
Left Democratic Alliance also alleged that their candidates were attacked at places in the country since electioneering began and their campaigns were obstructed at many places.
Reports received from districts said that police and other law enforcement agencies conducted overnight raids at places
and were going to opposition activists’ residence to arrest and threaten them.
A number of hotels in Dhaka were raided and inmates of privately run dormitories for students and bachelors were directed to leave by Thursday evening.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police, however, in its official news portal claimed that no such direction was given.
During the electioneering, at least 43 candidates of BNP and its allies were attacked in which at least a dozen candidates were seriously injured and 17 opposition candidates were arrested while High Court disqualified BNP candidates of 23 Constituencies.
BNP claimed that a total of 64 of their candidates were attacked so far since beginning of electioneering while their activists were sued and arrested.
Clashes, especially between activists of AL and BNP, took place while attacks on opposition campaigners continued during the electioneering.
After announcement of the election schedule on November 8, at least nine AL activists were killed in election-related violence – seven of them in AL infighting and two allegedly by rival BNP activists – and two others during an attack on an election camp of CHT-based United Peoples’ Democratic Front-backed candidate in Khagrachhari.
In a press briefing at its central office in Dhaka on Thursday, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that eight of their activists were killed and 12,588 injured in 2,716 attacks on the BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront since announcement of the election schedule.
He claimed that so far 9,202 of their activists were arrested and 806 ‘fictitious and false cases’ were filed against them in the last 22 days.
Rizvi alleged that the government used all-out force to drive out BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront of the election race and accused law enforcement agencies of direct involvement alongside the ruling AL men in the attacks on the opposition candidates and their supporters during electioneering.
BNP submitted more than 450 complaints to Election Commission and EC officials said most of the complaints were not investigated while its electoral enquiry committees found no veracity in most of the complaints they investigated.
Amid violence and attacks on opposition, the EC deployed army troops on December 24 but the opposition parties and candidates alleged that the deployment made no difference.
About the role of troops, Election Commissioner Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury said that the armed forces would act only when the regular law enforcement agencies would fail to bring any untoward situation under control during the elections.
A number of hotels in Dhaka were raided and inmates of privately run dormitories for students and bachelors were directed to leave by Thursday evening.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police, however, in its official news portal claimed that no such direction was given.
During the electioneering, at least 43 candidates of BNP and its allies were attacked in which at least a dozen candidates were seriously injured and 17 opposition candidates were arrested while High Court disqualified BNP candidates of 23 Constituencies.
BNP claimed that a total of 64 of their candidates were attacked so far since beginning of electioneering while their activists were sued and arrested.
Clashes, especially between activists of AL and BNP, took place while attacks on opposition campaigners continued during the electioneering.
After announcement of the election schedule on November 8, at least nine AL activists were killed in election-related violence – seven of them in AL infighting and two allegedly by rival BNP activists – and two others during an attack on an election camp of CHT-based United Peoples’ Democratic Front-backed candidate in Khagrachhari.
In a press briefing at its central office in Dhaka on Thursday, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that eight of their activists were killed and 12,588 injured in 2,716 attacks on the BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront since announcement of the election schedule.
He claimed that so far 9,202 of their activists were arrested and 806 ‘fictitious and false cases’ were filed against them in the last 22 days.
Rizvi alleged that the government used all-out force to drive out BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront of the election race and accused law enforcement agencies of direct involvement alongside the ruling AL men in the attacks on the opposition candidates and their supporters during electioneering.
BNP submitted more than 450 complaints to Election Commission and EC officials said most of the complaints were not investigated while its electoral enquiry committees found no veracity in most of the complaints they investigated.
Amid violence and attacks on opposition, the EC deployed army troops on December 24 but the opposition parties and candidates alleged that the deployment made no difference.
About the role of troops, Election Commissioner Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury said that the armed forces would act only when the regular law enforcement agencies would fail to bring any untoward situation under control during the elections.
