Bangladesh ruling party wins unopposed in one-sided polls

DHAKA

Bangladesh's ruling Awami League (BAL) won Sunday’s one-sided parliamentary elections in 147 constituencies out of 300 amid violence, poor turnout and boycott by an 18-party opposition bloc led by Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami.

BAL won 106, Jatiya Party (JP) 12 and others 21 according to unofficial results from 121 of the 147 constituencies.

The win gave the Awami League a two third majority with 215 seats in the 300-member national parliament.

Prime Minister and Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) chairwoman Sheikh Hasina was unofficially declared elected from Rangpur-6 constituencies while BAL alliance partner Jatiya Party (JP) chairman and former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad wins in Rangpur and losses in Lalmonirhat.

The day-long voting was marred by violence and poor turnout across the country. At least 21 people were killed in violence and police action on Sunday in Bangladesh's bloodiest elections in recent history.

The voting was held in 147 constituencies out of 300 and MPs in 153 remaining constituencies have been elected unopposed. A total of 386 candidates contested the election in 147 constituencies.  

The Awami League won 127 seats while Jatiya Party (Ershad) won 20, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal got 3, Workers Party won two and Jatiya Party (M) won one seat unopposed.  

Bangladesh's Human Rights Commission said in a statement on Sunday that only 10 percent voters have turned out at polling stations while the election monitoring organization Fair Election Monitoring Alliance's chief Munira Khan told media that less than 10 percent of the voters participated in Sunday’s general election.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said "the farcical polls under Hasina-Rakib administration will cause further bloodshed in the Bangladesh."

In a statement, the AHRC said the Election Commission of Bangladesh failed "miserably" to ensure a fair election.

The election boycott has taken its toll across the country as not a single vote was cast in more than 30 polling centers at different districts.

The 18-party alliance on Sunday called a fresh 48-hour general strike throughout Bangladesh beginning at 6am Monday demanding the cancellation of the polls.

Ruling BAL's ally Jatiya Party (Ershad) has also demanded the cancellation the elections in a move to mount pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"This election does not reflect the expectations of the people. So we demand the cancellation of the elections," Ahsan Habib Lincoln, a member of the Jatiya Party Presidium, told a press conference at the party office in Dhaka.   

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