Dhaka, December 31
The much-anticipated battle between Bangladesh’s “battling begums” is over with Sheikh Hasina trouncing her arch-rival Khaleda Zia to lead her Awami League to a landslide victory for a record third consecutive term in a controversial General Election, an outcome that would be a good news for India’s ties with Dhaka, especially on the national security front.
The Awami League-led grand alliance won 288 seats in the 300-member Parliament, Election Commission secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said, after counting of votes in the elections that was marred by deadly violence.
The ruling alliance, which got nearly 82 per cent of the total votes polled, bettered its previous best performance of 2008 when it bagged 263 seats. The opposition Jatiya Oikya Front - National Unity Front (NUF) - secured seven seats with over 15 per cent of the votes, Ahmed said, adding that others won three seats.
Voting was postponed in one constituency and result not declared in another due to the death of a candidate, he said.
Commenting on the results, 71-year-old Hasina said the Awami League-led Grand Alliance’s win in the election is another victory for the people of the country in December, the month of victory.
Hasina said the victory was nothing for her for personal gains, rather it is a great responsibility towards the country and its people.
While Hasina was seeking re-election for an overall fourth term as the Prime Minister, her 73-year-old arch-rival Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who is reportedly partially paralysed, faces an uncertain future in a Dhaka jail where she is lodged after her conviction in corruption cases.
Meanwhile, the opposition NUF rejected the results and urged the Election Commission to immediately scrap the “farcical election” and hold a fresh one under a non-partisan interim government.
Bangladesh’s Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, however, ruled out any scope of holding fresh election as demanded by opposition alliance, saying the allegations of ballot stuffing on the night before election is “completely untrue.”
“We are not going to hold a new election. There is no scope to hold the national election again,” Huda told the media. The CEC expressed satisfaction over the election and said the voter turnout in the polls was 80%. — PTI
‘Iron Lady’ of Bangladesh back at helm
- Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is termed by many as the country’s iron lady. She won the historic fourth term as PM, becoming the country’s longest-serving leader
- Hasina’s win has been credited with improving the economy and promoting development, while being accused of rights abuses, a crackdown on media and suppressing dissent
- Raising minimum wages for workers in Bangladesh’s robust garments industry, the world’s second-biggest after China’s, could be one of Hasina’s first tasks, party leaders have said
- The BNP, which has been out of power for 12 years and had boycotted the 10th General Election in 2014, is part of the opposition alliance
Modi sends greetings; India welcomes poll outcome in neighbouring nation
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sheikh Hasina over phone on her victory in the elections and assured her of India’s continued support to Bangladesh’s developmental strides
- ‘India warmly congratulates the people of Bangladesh for reaffirming their faith in democracy, development and the vision of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,’ said the Ministry of External Affairs statement
- India’s ties with Bangladesh under Hasina’s rule grew steadily. The last few years have been a “golden chapter” in India-Bangladesh relationship when complicated issues of land and coastal boundaries were resolved
- Bangladesh has also assured India that it will not allow its soil to be used for any terrorist activities against the neighbouring country
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2R01NbV
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