Dhaka, Feb 12 (PTI) Voting began on Thursday morning in Bangladesh’s crucial general election — the first since the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in massive nationwide protests two years ago,
amid sporadic violence.
The Election Commission reported that 32.88 per cent of votes had been cast across 32,000 polling centres nationwide by 12 noon during the election. The update was shared at a briefing at 12:45pm on Thursday.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said voting was continuing in all centres despite isolated incidents in different parts of the country, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
“So far, voting has not been suspended in any polling centre. There is no alarming situation,” he told reporters.
The voting started in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am (local time) and will continue until 4:30 pm. The counting of votes is expected to begin shortly after the voting concludes.
Voting in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.
The 13th parliamentary elections are being held simultaneously along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.
The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel — the largest-ever in the country’s electoral history.
The contest is mainly between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its once ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ interim government last year disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of electoral violence from multiple places.
In Gopalganj, three persons, including a 13-year-old girl, have been injured in an alleged hand bomb attack at a polling station, BDnews24 reported.
The blast occurred around 9am on Thursday at the Reshma International School centre at Nichupara. Two members of the Ansar, a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for election security, were among those hurt. The injured have been taken to hospital.
Zahirul Islam, the presiding officer at the polling station, said the injuries were minor and that voting resumed shortly afterwards.
In a separate incident, a series of hand bomb explosions have taken place outside a polling station in the Munshiganj-3 constituency, temporarily disrupting voting.
The blasts occurred around 10:15am on Thursday in front of the Makhati Gurucharan High School centre. Between 10 and 12 crude bombs were detonated, officials said. Voting at the centre was suspended for around 15 minutes.
Presiding Officer Md Titumir said the explosions caused panic among voters.
“We stopped voting briefly, but it has now started again and people are casting their ballots,” he said.
Also, a BNP leader has died during an altercation with Jamaat-e-Islami activists outside a polling centre in Khulna. The BNP says that he died when a Jamaat leader “pushed him” into a tree and hurt him. The Jamaat leader claims that the victim “fell ill” amid the unrest.
The victim has been identified as Mohibuzzaman Kochi, 55, a former office secretary of the Khulna city unit of the BNP. A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.
Yunus, who has promised to quickly transfer power to the elected government, has urged the political parties, candidates and other concerned parties to maintain restraint, tolerance and democratic behaviour on the polling day.
In a televised address to the nation on the eve of the polling, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin called upon the voters to cast their votes freely. He urged political parties, candidates, and voters to maintain a peaceful and cordial environment.
He said that representatives from 45 countries and organisations, including election management bodies and international institutions, are observing the polls.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Machud said nearly 9,00,000 law enforcement personnel have been deployed to ensure security during the election, state-run BSS news agency reported.
Authorities have deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Rapid Action Teams (RATs) across key areas of the capital.
Police said they have provided a list of risk-prone polling centres to the EC, which showed that out of 2,131 polling centres in Dhaka, 1,614 were risk-prone. However, the army said they have identified two centres in Dhaka city to be “risky”.
For the first time, drones and body-worn cameras are being used for election security.
EC data showed that first-time voters made up some 3.58 per cent of the nearly 127 million voters.
For the first time, nearly 8,00,000 expatriate Bangladeshis, who have registered with the poll body, will be able to vote through an IT-based postal ballot system.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has called upon all citizens to exercise their franchise by going to their respective polling stations and casting their votes for candidates of their choice.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Rahman said, “Dear pro-democracy brothers and sisters, I request everyone to exercise their voting rights in a festive and peaceful environment. Vote for whomever you deem fit. Vote according to your own choice, and ensure your state rights and ownership.” “Insha’Allah, from tomorrow, your Members of Parliament will take on the responsibility of serving you. I will take on the duty of ensuring that every victorious candidate of the sheaf of paddy (Dhaner Shis) properly fulfills their responsibilities,” he added.
Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government, speaking to reporters after voting, described the day as one of “great joy,” calling it “the birthday of the new Bangladesh.” He said the nation had “completely renounced the nightmarish past” and urged citizens to participate in both the parliamentary election and the referendum. He concluded his remarks by extending greetings to the nation, saying “Eid Mubarak.” Also, overnight clashes were reported in Bangladesh.
Three persons have been arrested by police on allegations of distributing ballot paper photocopies among activists of a party at Kalai area of northwestern Joypurhat, Ittefaq newspaper reported.
The Daily Star reported “ballot stuffing allegations spark clash between Jamaat and BNP activists” in northeastern Sylhet’s Balaganj sub-district where a local Jamaat leader and several others entered a polling centre at around midnight when BNP activists rushed resulting in scuffles requiring security interventions.
The BNP nominee there alleged ballot stamping had begun at 11:00pm with the presiding officer’s help.
In capital Dhaka, police arrested a Jamaat leader over buying votes while crude bombs were exploded near seven polling centres in southwestern Gopalganj hours before voting..
In a midnight Faceboook statement, Jamaat Ameer or chief Shafiqur Rahman called the incidents as “rumours” urging people to ignore them saying “dear countrymen, a ‘laylatul gujob’ (night of rumours) is underway, don’t pay a heed to them”. PTI ZH AR AMS
