Bangladesh ruling party set to win polls even before votes cast

[asif86]

Bangladesh ruling party set to win polls even before votes cast - Khaleej Times

15 December 2013

The government has been under intense international pressure to resolve a standoff over the general election set for January 5.

Bangladesh’s ruling party is set to win most of the seats in an upcoming election even before votes are cast, nomination figures showed Sunday, in a further blow to the credibility of the boycott-hit polls.

The government has been under intense international pressure to resolve a standoff over the general election set for January 5 amid a worsening of political violence that has left at least 80 people dead since late October.

The ruling Awami League is determined to go ahead with the polls, even though the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its 17 allies have vowed to boycott them unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quits beforehand.

With poll nominations closing late Friday, the Election Commission said 154 seats in the 300-seat parliament have only one candidate each on the ballot paper, and 127 of the 154 are from the Awami League.

Awami League allies were contesting another seven seats alone, meaning the ruling party or its allies need only win 17 of the contested seats to win a majority and stay in power.

BNP vice-president Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury said the uncontested seats have “set a new mark in election fraudulence” in the country.

“It’s totally farcical. The government is implementing a blueprint to rob the people of their voting rights,” he told AFP.

“Bangladesh is creating new history in election scandal,” the country’s largest-circulation Bengali daily Prothom Alo said Sunday.

The BNP and its allies demand that Hasina step down to make way for a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, as in the past.

Some 80 people have been killed since late October when the BNP-led opposition launched protests, strikes and transport blockades to pressure Hasina to resign.

The opposition, led by Hasina’s rival Khaleda Zia, has said it fears the premier will try to rig the vote in a country plagued for decades by coups and political upheaval, and vowed to boycott the poll.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry called Hasina last week to stress the need for talks with the opposition to resolve the election standoff.

But Hasina has rejected the demands for her resignation and is determined to hold the poll as scheduled, insisting it is a constitutional requirement.

[Bengal_Tiger]

1. The opposition are boycotting the elections as the "government" (Awami League) are organizing and supervising them.

What has happened in recent years is before elections the ruling party steps down and hands administration over to a neutral caretaker government for around 90 days, they then organize elections so there is no question of the elections being unfair.

2. However the Awami League government is refusing to do this (though they were the ones who insisted on this strongly and fought for it) and will instead still be the government during the election period, so the BNP alliance (opposition) is boycotting.

Quite rightly too, the Awami League are liars and have been involved in kidnapping and murder.


3. Elections are in 21 days time, January 5th. The Awami League will win because the opposition won't participate.

The government won't be regarded by anyone as a proper legitimate government.

After that who knows what will happen.

- All-out civil war?

- Army takeover?

- Something else?


By the way this dysfunctional political system is exactly what the US wants as they were the ones who prevented the Bangladeshi military from ridding Bangladeshi politics of Hasina Wajid and Khaleda Zia (both corrupt and have used violence) during the caretaker government of 2007-8.



Khaleda Zia.




Hasina Wajid.


They insisted Hasina come back to Bangladesh and contest elections despite the fact that in a civilized country both political leaders would have been in jail for crimes including corruption and killings.

This is just another part of the US' general "divide and rule" strategy across the world - especially the Muslim world, to destabilize and create trouble.




Dan Mozena, US ambassador to Bangladesh, pro-Jamaati, wearing a Bangladeshi Lungi.


The situation at the moment is tense and explosive.

However similar situations like this happened before, and it was like this before the previous elections.

Chaos and madness!

[Bengal_Tiger]

The "elections" in Bangladesh are a farce and no foreign country or organization has sent observers to monitor them e.g. EU, US, Russia etc.

Technically Hasina has won already as she won those 150 seats uncontested.

The country is in a crisis, Jamaati thugs on defence.pk are talking about using firearms i.e. a terrorist campaign (though I doubt that will happen).

However I have been told by experienced people that sooner or later Hasina will be removed and the opposition BNP will be in power.




AL Reveals Polls Manifesto

No pledge for making wealth reports public

Staff Correspondent



Having failed to fulfil its 2008 election pledge to publish the wealth statements of powerful people every year, the ruling Awami League has dropped the matter altogether and made no such promise in its manifesto for the 10th parliamentary polls.
Instead, the party has pledged initiatives for ensuring accountability of people from all sections for their income and wealth.
In its manifesto for the 9th parliamentary polls, the party had vowed that the powerful people would have to submit wealth statements annually and the wealth statement and source of income of the prime minister, cabinet members, parliamentarians and their family members would be made public every year, a promise that the party has failed to keep.
AL president Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, unveiled the party's manifesto titled "Bangladesh moving forward" for the January 5 polls at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre yesterday.
She announced that the party would enact laws to ensure accountability of the MPs for their actions in and outside parliament.
When asked, AL presidium member Nooh-ul-Alam Lenin, who was involved in drafting the manifesto, told The Daily Star that bringing transparency in the income and wealth of all was a key focus of the manifesto.
Though most of the opposition parties including the BNP have boycotted the elections, the Awami League said, forging a national consensus to keep the democratic process uninterrupted and making the 10th parliament effective were their priorities.
Besides these, the party set seven more priorities: ensuring peace and stability in the country by eliminating militancy, terrorism and communalism; completing the trials of war criminals and executing the verdicts; strengthening the National Human Rights Commission and appointing an ombudsman; strengthening the Election Commission; making the local government system more effective through decentralization of power; taking tough actions against black money, extortion, tender manipulation and bribery and making the ACC stronger; and freeing the law enforcement agencies from political influences.



Hasina unveiling AL's election manifesto at the BICC yesterday.

The party also vowed to try those who were involved in killing, arson attacks and disrupting peace in the country to foil the war crimes trial.



The ruling party made the promise to ensure equal treatment of the people irrespective of their faith, culture, gender and social status. It, however, said the party would not enact any law conflicting with the Quran and Sunnah.
The manifesto, dedicated to the young generation who would exercise their voting right for the first time in the upcoming elections, included vows to ensure employment and healthcare for all, to rid the capital city of traffic congestion and the educational institutions of dirty politics and session jams, and to give more attention to science and technology, health, women empowerment, gender equality and welfare of children, juveniles and youths.
The party, if voted to power, also promised to fully implement the CHT Peace Accord.
The party, in its 2008 manifesto, had set the year 2021 as the deadline to realise their visions. This time, the party said, it would announce a new plan, Vision-2041, if it formed the government again.
"Our primary target is to implement Vision-2021 and the long term plan is to elevate Bangladesh to the level of the developed countries by 2050," Sheikh Hasina said while announcing the manifesto.
With a view to making Bangladesh a real middle-income country by 2021, the party pledged to increase the per capita income to $1,500 from existing $1,044, the growth rate to 10 percent from the existing 6.2 percent and to reduce poverty rate to 13 percent from the existing 26 percent in the next seven years.
The AL manifesto also included the promise to take the electricity generation capacity to 24,000 MW from the existing 10,000 MW and ensure electricity connection to every household in the country.
Another bridge over the Padma river in addition to the ongoing one, a second Jamuna bridge, a modern international airport, the proposed deep seaport in Sonadia, a circular rail route around Dhaka city and the Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway were also promised in the manifesto.
In her concluding speech, the AL chief thanked the people for their overwhelming support to her government over the past five years and sought vote for 'boat' symbol in the upcoming polls.
Senior party leaders, members of civil society, freedom fighters, representatives of professional bodies, business leaders and a few diplomats were present on the occasion.
The ruling party announced its manifesto only a week before the January 5 national elections to be held in 146 constituencies out of 300 as 154 candidates are set to be elected uncontested.

AL Reveals Polls Manifesto | No pledge for making wealth reports public


Comments from the page:

Alekanda • 10 hours ago −

If Hasina takes action against bribery, extortion and corruption, is anybody will be left in her cabinet?



spiderman • 4 hours ago −

Simple logic. Next AL government years will be mother of all loot and plunder. After such loot and plunder how can they make anymore declaration. But one day like the war criminals these economic criminals will face justice.

[Bengal_Tiger]

The Awami League (AL) will be out of power sooner or later. Later when I have time I will list some of their achievements and faults, however here are some of the photos from their facebook page.






This is about garment workers.







They will be out. Khaleda will probably be in.

Bangladeshi economic growth will start hitting 7% then 8 then 10%. Banglades h will catch up with Indonesia and Malaysia (both of whom were behind Bangladesh, decades ago). A stronger Bangladesh will not be able to be bullied by Saudi Arabia or Turkey. Pakistan will cease to exist anyway insh'Allah.

[asif86]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-...ed_900619.html

Bangladesh opposition braces for nationwide blockade, 1 killed


Dhaka: A fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami leader was killed on Tuesday in Bangladesh in a clash with security forces as the opposition geared up for a non-stop nationwide blockade from the New Year to derail the January 5 polls.

Police said local Jamaat leader Abdul Jabbar was killed in a clash between the opposition activists and joint forces comprising paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police in western Meherpur district, bordering India.

"The members of the law enforcement agencies were injured in the gunfight," a police official told a TV channel.

In the capital Dhaka, BNP activists took out processions and exploded bombs in old part of the city as it called for a nationwide protest today.


The main opposition BNP led by Kahleda Zia last night called for the nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways after it was barred for the second consecutive day from staging "march for democracy" in the capital.

The BNP-led 18-party alliance has been demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation and scrapping of the polls.

BNP chairperson's advisor Khandker Mahbub Hossain said the non-stop nationwide blockade starting from January 1 would continue until further announcement.

He asked opposition activists to stage "peaceful" protest rallies across the country today as a warm up exercise ahead of the blockade.

The opposition has dubbed the polls as "farcical" as over half of the candidates in the 300-seat Parliament were set to be declared unopposed in the absence of rival contenders from the opposition.

The alliance earlier enforced identical blockades for nearly a month from November 26 after the Election Commission declared the schedule for the polls amid stalemate over the nature of poll-time government.

The opposition has been demanding Hasina's replacement, saying elections under her administration would not be credible.

But, the ruling Awami League turned down the demand calling it "unconstitutional" and "illogical".

Bangladesh's capital was effectively cut off from the rest of the country for the second day yesterday, with transport services into Dhaka halted to stop opposition supporters from entering the city.

Some transport operators, including the state-run railway, said they suspended the services fearing sabotages while pro-government transport associations called strikes protesting past weeks of violence.

Police also laid a siege around Zia's residence and BNP's central office at Nayapaltan.

Police's armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and water canons were positioned at areas deemed trouble spots.

According to figures, over 122 people have been killed in the past one month since the opposition started enforcing blockade.



PTI

First Published: Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 13:31

[asif86]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/w...w/28161947.cms

Bangladesh capital cut off to prevent opposition march

| Dec 31, 2013, 05.49 AM IST

DHAKA: Bangladesh's capital was effectively cut off from the rest of the country Monday, with transport services into Dhaka halted in a bid to thwart the second day of a march against next week's elections.

Bus, ferry and train services were suspended for a third day as authorities resumed efforts to stop thousands of people travelling to Dhaka for the opposition march, banned by police fearing violence.

"We restarted [COLOR=#0000FF !important]Dhaka-bound bus services[/COLOR] after Sunday afternoon. But all [COLOR=#0000FF !important]the buses[/COLOR] were turned back by [COLOR=#0000FF !important]the government authorities[/COLOR] as the opposition extended the march to Monday," Faruq Talukdar, owner of the country largest bus service, Sohag Motors, told AFP.

The opposition and its allies called the march in the hope that up to a million people will descend on [COLOR=#0000FF !important]central Dhaka[/COLOR] in a last-ditch attempt to force [COLOR=#0000FF !important]Prime Minister[/COLOR]Sheikh Hasina to quit and call off January 5 elections.
Two people were killed at the start of the march on Sunday during clashes between bomb-throwing opposition supporters and police who responded with shotguns and water cannons.

Police also on Sunday stopped opposition leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time former prime minister, from leaving her home, where she has been under de facto house arrest since Wednesday, to address the rally.

On Monday, police maintained roadblocks around the capital while thousands of officers patrolled the city's streets to stop people gathering at key locations for the march.

Authorities fear the rally could become a focal point for more unrest, after what has already been the deadliest year for political violence in the country's history.

Dhaka-bound trains services were suspended at the country's second largest city of Chittagong, platform officer Omar Faruq told AFP, as part of transport disruptions that started on Saturday. Ferry services were also halted from the main coastal city of Barisal, the private Independent Television said.

The ruling Awami League party mocked Sunday's march as a "damp squib", and insisted the polls would proceed as planned despite a boycott by the opposition BangladeshNationalist Party (BNP) and its allies.

The parties, fearing the vote could be rigged, have been demanding that Hasina stand down and allow a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, but she has refused to yield.

A series of crippling national strikes, protests and transport blockades called by the opposition since October in a bid to halt the elections have left at least 275 people dead.

The government late Sunday detained a senior BNP official on charges of arson, just minutes after he told reporters that the protests would continue through until the polls.

"A large number of our leaders have now been arrested including four lawmakers, four members (of) our highest decision making body, four secretaries and a huge lot of officials and supporters," said BNP vice president Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

"Almost every BNP leader and official has also been implicated in false charges," he added.

Police said at least 1,200 protesters have been arrested in the past four days as part of "preventive measures" against the march.

[Bengal_Tiger]

1. The current ruling party is the Awami League that have ruled from 2008 to now.

2. Before them in 2001-2006 it was the right-wing more pro-Muslim BNP.

3. Under the Bangladeshi system after a government finishes its term it hands over power for 90 days to a (in theory) neutral caretaker government to manage elections.

The problem in late 2006/early 2007 was that the Awami League (the then opposition party) said that the BNP had handed over power to pro-BNP figures who were not neutral. The Awami League went mad and started destroying the country through riots.

4. The army stepped in on 11th January 2007 and there was a two-year interim administration.

The army sought to remove both Hasina and Khaleda, leaders of the Awami League and BNP from politics forever. They were stopped from doing this by the US.

The US/West deliberately seek to have corrupt leaders such as Hasina and Khaleda in power and to plunge the country in to crisis every 5 years as part of their policy of divide and rule and keeping some countries weak.




5. The Awami League won and now they rule.

Being the hypocrite and liars they are, they have abolished the caretaker government system they themselves put the country on fire for.


6. The elections tomorrow are a farce and a sham, no one is sending observers since they know this i.e. the US, EU, Commonwealth, Russia etc.


Nobody knows what will happen after the phoney "elections" tomorrow (the opposition is boycotting it).

a: Either the Awami League will continue in power and then a real civil war like situation might explode and the country will face ruin.

b: The military will step in and remove Hasina, most media say this is very unlikely and that the army has no appetite for getting involved.

c: Something else.


This is the worst time in Bangladesh's recent history.

The only winners in this scenario are of course the Americans, who are laughing, watching the dysfunctional system featuring leaders they insisted on, ruining Bangladesh.





Our other enemies such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Burma, India will all be delighted.

However I pray to Allah that this crisis ends and peace is restored in Bangladesh, hundreds have died.

May Allah protect Bangladesh from its enemies.

Ameen, thumma ameen.

[Bengal_Tiger]

By the way before the two idiots, Hasina and Khaleda, Bangladesh was ruled by a military dictator in the 80s, Ershad, pictured below.

[asif86]

38 polling centres burnt in Bangladesh

http://www.business-standard.com/art...0400394_1.html