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| Bangladesh |
| BNP-led alliance rejects polls Demands govt's resignation |
| 2014-01-06 |
| [Bangla New Age] The BNP-led opposition alliance on Sunday rejected the 'unilateral,' 'farcical' national elections and asked the government to immediately resign and announce a fresh schedule of the 10th parliamentary elections under a neutral non-party government. The BNP chairperson's advisory council member Osman Farruk hours after the polling said that people had rejected the 'farcical elections' and had not responded to the call of the prime minister and ministers to go to polling centres. Farruk at a news briefing at his house at Gulshan in the capital claimed that voter turnout in the elections was not more than 3 to 5 per cent. He asked the government to sit for a dialogue with political parties to form an election-time government immediately, cancelling the results of the 'farcical elections.' The BNP leader also asked the government to hand over power to a neutral non-party government for holding the 10th parliamentary elections afresh. Farruk said that an insignificant participation of voters in the elections was the reflection of non-confidence in the government. As an Indian journalist asked about the Election Commission's claim of about 60 per cent of votes being cast, he said the commission was 'spineless, subservient to the government and the puppet of a political party [the Awami League].' He said that the figures the commission gave were 'unacceptable.' Farruk said that the BNP had figures from various polling centres which showed that only 3 to 5 per cent of the votes were cast. He said that voting in Bangladesh is like a festival but it was festive and it could be called an obituary of democracy. In reply to a question, Farruk said that they were demanding a blanket resignation of the government. He said that their first condition to dialogues with political parties was to cancel the election results. He termed the government 'illegal' and said that it had no moral right to spend tax payer's money this way. |
| Posted by:Fred |