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EWG: Stray incidents do not put polls in question
The Election Working Group (EWG) said although there were some irregularities and violence, the authenticity of the entire election was not in question.
The EWG said the municipality election held on December 30 in 234 municipalities could not be questioned due to some scattered incidents.
They said this at a press conference titled Preliminary Statement on the Municipal Elections in the capital’s National Press Club yesterday morning.
EWG Director Dr Abdul Alim read out the EWG’s observation and said: “A total of 72% of the vote had been cast. Excepting some scattered incidents, votes had been cast in all polling centres.”
He said his organisation sent 1,198 observers to 111 municipalities where 12% of BNP polling agents were absent. The same percentage of Awami League agents were absent as well.
There was no scope for anybody to cast false votes or for any kind of irregularity in the polling centres, he said.
However, criticising the Election Commission, Dr Alim said the EC should have been more concerned about violations of the polls code of conduct.
“We did not see any action taken against lawmakers and ministers involved in the election campaign,” he noted.
According to the EWG report, 22% of the vote was cast by 10am, 52% by 1pm, 66% by 3pm and 72% by the close of the day.
Monitoring group Brotee observed 240 polling centres across the country and say 225 centres – nearly 94% – were free of violence.
Brotee said at the municipalities they observed, there was a 70-75% turnout at the polls.
Although a vast number of law enforcement personnel were deployed to polling centres across the country, in many centres vote rigging and occupation of polling centres took place.
Brotee found 11 centres in Gopalpur municipality, 3 in Gaibandha Sadar, 1 in Daudkandi and 1 in Dhamrai municipality where vote rigging, attacks on polling agents and incidents of agents being forcibly removed from centres had allegedly taken place.
The group reported a robust presence of female voters and minority community voters in every polling centre.
ARTICLE 19, a UK-registered charity working on freedom of expression and freedom of information issues, surveyed over 266 centres of 67 municipalities in 63 districts.
It found over 100 cases of violations, including 47 incidents of forced prohibition of entry to polling centres.
“We have observed that members of the electronic media, especially those in charge of photography and videography were targeted … [including] … over 15 incidents ranging from journalists working in Somoy TV, NTV, Channel I, GTV, SATV and several others,” a press release from the group said.
Tahmina Rahman, ARTICLE 19 director for Bangladesh and South Asia, said: “This is the first time in Bangladesh that municipal level elections are being conducted with political participation and therefore it is very important that they are held in an environment that is conducive and enabling where journalists and media workers can perform their professional duties safely … [to allow the] … free flow of information.”
EWG: Stray incidents do not put polls in question | Dhaka Tribune