Bangladesh: MPs sworn in amid re-election demands

Monitoring Desk

DHAKA: Newly elected members of parliament in Bangladesh took oath Thursday to rule the country for a third straight term, despite oppositional calls for re-election.

A total of 291 lawmakers were sworn into office at Bangladesh’s national parliament, led by ruling Awami League (AL) party.

The seven opposition MPs belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led (BNP) alliance skipped the oath-taking program.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath-taking, and AL now constitutes the largest block in parliament since the birth of Bangladesh.

The opposition is also scheduled to submit a memorandum to the election commission later in the day to demand a fresh poll under a non-partisan government. It also asked the BNP candidates to come to Dhaka to organize a proceeding course of action.

According to a gazette published by the election commission, the ruling party won by 257 seats in parliament and its largest ally the Jatiya Party won 22 seats in Sunday’s election. Smaller allies of the ruling front also won nine seats.

To form a government in Bangladesh, a party needs 151 seats in the 350-seat parliament. 300 members of the parliament are elected directly by popular vote while 50 seats are reserved for women.

Sunday’s election were marred by allegations of attacks on opposition party members, voter intimidation, vote rigging, and partisan behavior by election officials in the pre-election period and on election day in Bangladesh.

The opposition BNP-led alliance won only seven seats, as they boycotted elections in 100 of the 298 constituencies calling it “farcical”.

They also rejected the election results demanding a fresh election under a nonpartisan government.

Both the ruling party and the country’s top election body refused the allegations describing it violent free and one of the most fair elections in the country.

Voting was suspended in two constituencies — one for the natural death of a candidate and another for election day violence.

At least 19 people were killed and around 200 injured on election day violence across the country.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said on Monday that “there was no incident of irregularities noticed by the election commission,” and the possibility of a new election has been subsequently ruled out. He further stated that ballot stuffing allegations are “completely untrue”.

Local and international rights and election observatory bodies have urged the government to look into the accusations of election irregularities and alleged vote rigging, to establish the newly elected government’s credibility. (AA)