Published :Monday, 4 April, 2016, Time : 12:00 AM View Count : 10
BNP
on Sunday demanded cancellation of both the first and second phases of
the elections to Union Parishads (UPs) as those were 'marred by
widespread violence, vote rigging and irregularities'. "People have
turned down with hatred all the elections under the current subservient
Election Commission. I, on behalf of BNP, demand the election to vote
rigging be annulled immediately," said BNP senior joint secretary
general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. Speaking at a press briefing at BNP's
Nayapaltan central office, he also renewed his party's demanded for the
resignation of the Election Commission. The BNP leader alleged that
the ruling party 'cadres' are resorting to hooliganism killing people,
attacking opposition candidates and their supporters with arms and
vandalising and torching their houses. "The Election Commission is
responsible for all these heinous acts." Around 30 people were killed
and several hundred others injured in the two phases of the elections
to 1,354 UPs held on March 22 and March 31. BNP-nominated candidates won
108 chairman posts in the two phases of the UP elections. Rizvi said
the two phases of the UP elections were marred by vote rigging,
capturing of polling stations and widespread violence and use of muscle
power by the ruling party men. He alleged that despite their party's
repeated complaints with the EC over various polls irregularities and
violation of the election code of conduct, it did nothing to check
those. "Our candidates' nomination papers were snatched at gunpoint.
Even, nominations of our many candidates were cancelled on trivial
grounds." Rizvi said the EC is assisting the ruling party in all
election to resort to terrorism and vote rigging. "The country's
election system is now guardian-less as the Election commission has now
turned into a moribund institution. That's why, people's voting rights
and election has also got like an orphan." He also termed mockery
with people Awami League Awami League joint general secretary
Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif's comment that BNP is thinking of boycotting the
remaining UP polls to avert humiliation and debacle.?UNB