Following the elections, both international and local election observers lauded the elections as ‘free, fair, and peaceful.’ The independent Election Commission (EC) similarly endorsed this claim, asserting a 41.8% voter turnout. The EC openly invited anyone with doubts about the turnout to challenge the reported figures. But, some vested quarters continue to falsely claim that the country’s election is non-participatory and unfair without any concrete evidence.
International communities including China, Russia, and India, among others, rushed to congratulate PM Sheikh Hasina and her government for swift victory. The EU representatives, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, MPs of the House of Commons, UK, and other Western countries pledge to work with the new government to advance the liberal relationship. The congratulatory messages and bilateral meetings with the new government mean giving legitimacy to the new government diplomatically.
You can also read: Seminar Highlights Democratic Triumph in Bangladesh’s 12th Parliamentary Elections
On the other side, some international media are producing different narratives aiming to discredit the government, election as well as Bangladesh’s success stories. Illinois State University’s professor and political analyst Ali Riaz is no different. The professor is widely popular among the opposition quarter for his biased stance against the Awami League government.
A January 18 article published in ‘Atlantic Council’ however, has painted a picture that raises questions about the author’s motives. The content and narrative of the article is based more on personal opinion and almost no verifiable data.
In his article, Ali Riaz tried to depict Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as an authoritarian leader and termed the elections as non-participatory despite intentionally skipping BNP-Jamaat’s pre-election deadly violence including murdering police officials, setting public buses on fire, burning trains with hundreds of passengers on board.
We will here scrutinize Ali Riaz’s claims with factual data and counter-claims.
Falsely Blamed Govt for October 28 Violence
Ali Riaz in his article blamed the Awami League government for the October 28 violence despite the fact is the BNP is the sole responsible for the attack. On that day, the BNP called its grand rally in front of its party office, Naya Paltan. But soon after the rally started, supporters of the party started attacking Awami League activists, journalists and burned public vehicles.
When the law enforcement agencies came to restore law and order, the attackers carried out murderous assaults on police, leaving one policeman spot-dead and many more injured. The attackers also vandalized the Chief Justice’s residence, a nearby hospital, a police post, and many government and private establishments.
From that day to the elections day, BNP and its party men allegedly burned hundreds of vehicles, vandalized polling, carried out crude bomb attacks at the courtyard. The party men also carried out harrowing attacks on trains aiming mass killing which resulted 8 people’s tragic death. They however confessed the offenses after being arrested by law enforcers.
But sadly, Ali Riaz’s article made no mentions of such anti-democratic attacks. He blamed law enforcers for arresting ‘thousands’ of opposition leaders but didn’t provide any evidence and cause why they were arrested. He went on to say that BNP’s party offices have been put under lock by law enforcement agencies but police said that BNP itself keeping its own office locked and police have no objections if they open the office and carry out activities there.
Splitting BNP: Government’s Play?
Ali Riaz claimed that the government adopted tactics to split BNP, founded new political parties and pressurize individuals to join the election. But, he failed to give single evidence or even a statement to support his claim. However, BNP was not split officially but more than 30 BNP’s senior leaders including former law makers, vice-presidents left BNP’s politics as they think the election is the only way forward to assume in power and for dissatisfaction against BNP’s de facto ruler Tarique Rahman.
No one of them alleged that the government pressurized them for leaving BNP.
The comparative new parties which joined in electoral race was not founded just before the elections. Trinamool BNP established by former BNP leader Nazmul Huda founded in December 2017, seven years before the elections. The Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) was also founded in 2019.
So, these are not new party formed to just contest in elections. They also announced that they don’t want to split BNP, they just want to join in elections to work for the people. BNP itself to be blamed for its former loyalists’ departure and there is no government’s mechanism here as no evidence or strong allegations emerge.
One Sided Elections?
The government and the Election Commission tried its best to bring BNP and other parties to the elections but BNP vehemently denied to take part. The election commission even said to change polls schedule if BNP joins and assured of a free and fair polls.
But all kind of efforts went in vain as the party was adamant to its decisions. The party wanted resignation of the government and bringing back ‘Caretaker government,’ which is unconstitutional and no other country in the world except Pakistan has the system.
Former BNP leader Shahjahan Omar said that “The BNP plans to participate in the election only if there is the assurance that it will come to power. Fifteen years have passed like this. They will most likely continue to wait till doomsday and even then, they won’t come to power.”
In this election, 27 parties contested the race and a total of 2,716 people submitted nomination papers for the 300 parliamentary seats. However, after the scrutiny, the EC rejected 731 candidates or 27% of the total. The EC scrapped heavyweights Awami League nominated candidates including Shammi Ahmed (Barisal-4 constituency).
During the elections, the EC was tough and uncompromising regarding any irregularities. According to EC, there were reports of irregularities from 140 centres. Polling was suspended in 21 centres in at least nine constituencies. Forty-two people were arrested in connection with the irregularities.
For breaching code of conducts, EC has showcaused 762 times of which 300 times were to more than 100 MPs of Awami League. There were also 63 cases filed against candidates or their supporters
EC had disqualified Awami League’s candidate, Mustafizur Rahman Chowdhury (Chattogram-16), for threatening law enforcement, marking a historic event in the country’s election history. In Narsingdi-4, the EC ordered the arrest of Industries Minister and AL candidate Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun’s son for ballot stuffing. The returning officer also suspended the results of the Mymensingh-3 (Gouripur) seat due to the suspension of a polling center.
Awami League Heavyweight Defeats
Many influential Awami League leaders were defeated in the polls indicating that the government was not tried to influence in the voting process. In the Dhaka-19 constituency, Saiful Islam, an independent candidate represented by the truck symbol, triumphed with 84,412 votes, outpacing his closest rival, former State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md. Enamur Rahman, the AL candidate, who garnered 56,361 votes.
In Jessore-5, Swapan Bhattacharya, the State Minister of Local Government and two-time MP, who also served as the Local Upazila Chairman, received 72,332 votes but faced defeat at the hands of the independent candidate Yakub Ali, who secured 77,468 votes.
Habiganj-4 experienced the defeat of Adv. Mahbub Ali, the state minister for civil aviation and a two-time MP, despite garnering 69,543 votes, he was defeated by an independent candidate, Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Sumon with a substantial margin of 169,099 votes.
Gazipur-5 witnessed the defeat of Meher Afroz Chumki, the Minister of State for Women and Child Affairs and four-time MP, who garnered 67,783 votes, against the independent candidate Akhtaruzzaman, who secured 82,720 votes.
In Kishoreganj-2, Abdul Kahar Akand, renowned for his role as the investigator in the Bangabandhu assassination case and a former DIG of police, faced defeat with 68,932 votes. An independent candidate named Sohrab Hossain emerged victorious, securing 89,539 votes.
Abdus Sobhan Golap, an influential member of the Awami League Central Committee faced an unexpected defeat in Madaripur-3 seat. Golap, with 61,971 votes, was surpassed by the relatively unknown Tahmina Begum, who secured 96,633 votes.
In Sunamganj-2, Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mahmood, the younger brother of the current Inspector General of Police (IG), faced defeat with 58,672 votes. An independent candidate, with 67,775 votes, emerged victorious in this electoral contest.
In Kushtia-2, Hasanul Haque Inu, the former Information Minister and three-time MP, a national leader and closest political ally of Awami League, suffered defeat with 92,445 votes against the local leader Kamarul Arefin, who secured 115,799 votes.
Pirojpur-2 observed Anwar Hossain Manju, a six-time MP, former minister, influential national leader, and president of the Ittefaq editorial board, losing with 70,681 votes to his ex-political secretary, who secured 99,268 votes.
Voter Turnout Confusion Explained
In the election day at 3pm, the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said that the election turnout was about 27% and later at the day, the CEC announced that the actual voter turnout was 41.08%. The two conflicting statements within hour creates confusion and Ali Riaz utilized this saying this as “ridiculous”.
The Election Commission received updated information approximately every two hours. This means that the information of 27% turnout (stated at 3 pm) was at least two hours old. Therefore, the updated information at 4pm of 41% had a three-hour interval.
It should be also noted that the election morning was exceptionally cold, with temperatures going as low as 13°c in Panchagarh. A large portion of the population waited till noon to cast their votes, updates of which were only tallied later in the day. So, there is no confusion why the EC first said 28 percent and then 41 percent.
During the elections, BNP and its allies announced strikes and allegedly started series of violent attacks at polling stations, creating a sense of panic among the voters. This panic might influence many to stay in home rather to fall prey in BNP’s violence. Also, recent trends shows that in many countries, voter turnouts are notable lesser than previous data. It might be attributed to youth people’s apathy to politics. So, 41 percent voter turnout is satisfactory comparative with other countries.
Motives
Upon careful analysis of the article, it becomes clear that it was politically motivated. The biased and accusatory tone; the lack of data and reliance on speculation and the complete omission of BNP’s violence part completely disintegrates the validity and acceptability of the article; while raising ethical concerns about journalistic integrity about both the publisher and the author. The author himself, has a history of biased criticism of the ruling government; going so far as testifying in the US senate. His past actions therefore, cast further doubt on the motives behind the article.
