Awami League
AL workers thwart BNP's attempt to sow chaos: Hasan Mahmud
The BNP-Jamaat attempted to cause major chaos in Dhaka in the name of a mass procession, but they were thwarted by the resoluteness of AL leaders and activists, according to Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud.
The AL leader made the remarks while speaking with reporters at his Chattogram residence on Saturday.
“Nevertheless, Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's main ally, attacked police officers. They failed due to the police force's patience,” he said.
“Actually, on December 10, BNP realized that the majority of people are not on their side. They have been disappointed since then. That is why they are attempting to cause mayhem. Their politics is entirely based on deceit,” he went on.
He also said that the BNP has adopted the policy of bootlicking foreigners and expects officials from various states or embassies to speak on their behalf. That didn't help either, added the minister.
Hasan Mahmud said the BNP’s politics revolves around causing chaos. “That will not be tolerated by the people of the country”.
Read more: Simultaneous Movement: 33 opposition parties set to take out mass processions in city
He also stated that BNP set cars on fire on December 10th and will do so again if given the chance.
Mentioning that he dealt with the sabotage of BNP in 2013–15, he also said, “We know what BNP wants to do and how much they can do. We also know how to handle it."
The BNP and 32 other like-minded opposition parties staged a procession of showdowns Friday in different parts of the capital, by way of the first joint programme in what is being billed as a collective movement to take down the incumbent government and set the stage for free and fair elections.
They also separately announced sit-in programmes across the country on January 11 as their next course of action, to press home their 10-point demand, including the resignation of the current government and formation of a polls-time caretaker government.
Read more: Simultaneous Movement: Ganatantra Mancha brings out mass procession in Dhaka
BNP brought out a massive procession from in front of the party’s Nayapaltan area. It ended at Moghbazar after parading different roads through Bijoynagar, Kakrail, Shantinagar and Malibagh intersections.
BNP-led alliance changing skin like a snake: Info Minister
Comparing the BNP-led alliance with the shedding of skin by a snake, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud claimed on Friday that the BNP-led coalition makes their alliance bigger or smaller from time to time.
“Sometimes the alliance is 20-party, again 12-party and now it is 33-party,” he said.
The I&B minister said this while addressing a sit-in programme in front of the central office of Bangladesh Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital’s Gulistan area.
Read more: New political alliance “Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote” launched
“There is doubt whether three out of the 33-parties will be found in the alliance except a few parties while rest other parties are only seen on signboard,” he said.
Hasan Mahmud, also joint general secretary of the ruling AL, said the BNP and its alliance will be resisted once they try to create anarchy.
People of Dhaka were panicked over the BNP’s mass procession, he claimed.
“As the government party it is our duty to stay by the people and we are on the field so that none can destabilize law and order situation and peace,” the information said.
Read more: 12-party alliance formed to support BNP’s movement
Hasan Mahmud confidently claimed that the AL government will again come to power to govern the country through elections under leadership of Sheikh Hasina whom he called the symbol of people’s hope and aspiration.
Quader promises major remedial steps as AL smarts from polling debacles
The ruling party Awami League (AL) faced a major setback going into election year 2023 in the latest round of municipal and union parishad elections - most notably in Rangpur.
Bagha in Rajshahi, Birol in Dinajpur, Boda in Panchagarh, Alfadanga in Faridpur and Bonpara in Natore, on December 29.
The AL-backed candidates were defeated in Bagha and Alfadanga.
In 66 union parishad (UP) elections, independent candidates, many of them AL 'rebels', bagged more votes.
Two days earlier, Jatiya Party-backed candidate won the Rangpur City Corporation election held on December 27.
Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa, candidate of the Jatiya Party was re-elected with 1,46,798 votes for the post of mayor. What was shocking was that the Awami League candidate, Hosne Ara Lutfa (Dahlia), finished not second, not third, but fourth with 22,306 votes.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said major organisational steps will be taken within a week after the failures of Awami League-backed candidates in Rangpur City Corporation elections.
He was speaking with the media at the secretariat on Thursday.
Quader said, “We did not interfere in the Rangpur election. We didn't try to move on. We are taking measures where there is weakness.”
Regarding the election in municipalities and union parishads, he said, “It is a local government election. There are many things. Jatiya Party candidate was also ahead there.”
Read more: Internal problems behind defeat of AL candidate in RCC election: Quader
“We are taking major organisational measures regarding Rangpur polls within a week. The game will be played in the national elections.”
In Rajshahi’s Bagha municipality election, AL 'rebel' Akkas Ali, standing independent, was unofficially elected as the Mayor after getting a total of 12,033 votes, which is 5,846 votes more than the AL candidate Shahinur Rahman Pintu.
In Faridpur’s Alfadanga, only one AL-backed candidate has been able to win the election, while three others have lost to rebel and autonomous candidates. Autonomous candidate Md Ali Aksad has been elected as Mayor of Alfadanga municipality after bagging a total of 4,942 votes, while AL-backed candidate Md Saifur Rahman got only 3,660 votes.
In Panchagarh, AL-backed candidate Azahar Ali has won the Boda municipality election after getting a total of 6,740 votes, while autonomous candidate Akhtar Hossain Hasan clinched 3,597 votes.
In Natore, Al-backed candidates have been able to win two municipality and union parishad elections while an independent candidate has won another union parishad election.
AL-backed candidate KM Jakir Hossain has become Mayor for the second time in Banpara municipality election. BNP-backed autonomous candidate Ali Akbar has won the No 1 Jowari UP election after getting 9,244 votes, while his opponent AL-backed candidate Chand Mahmud has got 7,044 votes.
Read more: JaPa’s Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa elected as RCC mayor for second consecutive time
Dinajpur, AL-backed candidate and current Mayor Sobujar Siddik Sagar has won the Birol municipality election for the second time, while other AL-backed candidates have lost union parishad elections in the district.
Internal problems behind defeat of AL candidate in RCC election: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Thursday that internal problems resulted in the defeat of their party-nominated candidate in Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) election held on Tuesday.
He said this while exchanging views with journalists at the conference room of the secretariat in the capital.
“Mayor will be from the plough, the second will be the boat---most of the people had the idea over the RCC elections. But all the accounts were overturned in the result of the vote. The AL candidate lost her collateral being fourth in the race,” he said, adding that there are problems there and it was not supposed to be defeated by the margin seen.
Read more: JaPa’s Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa elected as RCC mayor for second consecutive time
Asked about the debacle of the party-sponsored candidate, he said the Jatiya Party-backed candidate was ahead in the pre-election survey and there were some problems inside them (AL).
Apart from this, it was a local government election and many factors are considered in such an election, Quader observed.
“We came to know earlier that the Jatiya Party candidate was ahead of the other candidates. The government party didn’t make any exaggeration here—for that we didn’t try to force power to go ahead and from these aspects democracy won,” he said.
Quader, also road, transport and bridges minister, said they are looking into the facts behind the debacle and going to take a tougher organisational action within one week.
Read more: Voting for Rangpur City Corporation election tomorrow
Minister Quader, who became the party’s GS for the third consecutive time, names of members of the central committee will be announced within one to two day.
Simultaneous Movement: 33 opposition parties set to take out mass processions in city
As part of the simultaneous movement to unseat the current government, BNP and other opposition parties and alliances are set to take out mass processions in different places of the capital on Friday.
They will also observe the day as “Black Day” marking the anniversary of the 11th parliamentary election held on December 30, 2018.
As per the schedules, BNP will bring out a procession at Naya Paltan while Ganatantra Mancha in front of the Jatiya Press Club, 12-Party Alliance at Fakirerpool Water Tank, Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote at Purana Paltan Crossing, LDP at FDC Crossing and Jamaat Islami at Baitul Mukarram Mosque’s North Gate.
After the procession, the opposition parties and alliances are likely to announce fresh programmes to intensify the simultaneous movement.
BNP standing committee members sat in a meeting on Thursday afternoon to work out the next course of action. A party standing committee member, wishing anonymity, said they may announce a sit-in programme as the next programme of the simultaneous movement.
Around 33 like-minded political parties, including the BNP, are going to hold the mass-procession programme in the capital to push for the 10-point demand, including the resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament, transfer of power to a non-partisan caretaker government and formation of a new election commission.
Earlier on December 24, BNP held the mass-procession programme in all divisional cities and district headquarters.
Due to the national council programme of the ruling Awami League, BNP rescheduled the same programme for December 30.
Meanwhile, BNP Vice Chairman Professor AZM Zahid Hossain said at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday that their mass procession programme will be held peacefully.
"Our party leaders and activists will gather in front of the Nayapaltan office and bring out the procession at 2pm,” he said.
Zahid said their procession will end at Nayapaltan after parading different roads through Bijoynagar, Kakrail, Shantinagar, Malibagh and Moghbazar intersections.
Read more: 12-party alliance formed to support BNP’s movement
He said that they have already received permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner to hold a mass procession up to Moghbazar from Nayapaltan.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna, the leader of Ganatantra Mancha and the president of Nagrik Oikya, said they will bring out the procession in front of the Jatiya Press Club at 11am.
Mostafa Jamal Haider, the leader of the 12-party alliance and the chairman of the Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) said their leaders and workers will gather near the water tank at Fakirerpool at 2:30pm to take out the procession towards Bijoynagar.
Fariduzzaman Farhad, the coordinator of the Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote and the chairman of the National People’s Party (NPP) said that they will start the procession from Purana Paltan intersection at 2:30pm.
Leaders of LDP and Jamaat-e-Islami said they will hold the mass procession programme separately as they are not in any alliance.
Salah Uddin Razzak, the joint secretary general of LDP, said they will take out the procession from their central office near FDC around 2:30pm.
Meanwhile, a three-member delegation of Jamaat went to the DMP office on Thursday afternoon seeking permission to bring out a mass procession from in front of the North Gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque at 3:30pm.
Read more: New political alliance “Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote” launched
The members of the delegation of Jamaat are Advocate Saifur Rahman, Advocate Jalal Uddin and Advocate Golam Rahman.
JaPa’s Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa elected as RCC mayor for second consecutive time
Jatiya Party-backed mayoral candidate Md Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa on Tuesday unofficially won the high-voltage Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) election for the second consecutive time.
Mostafa bagged 1, 46,798 votes while his nearest contestant Amiruzzaman from Islami Andolon Bangladesh polled 49,892 votes.
His lead over the ruling Awami League’s candidate Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia was a huge margin of 1, 24,492 votes.
Independent candidate (AL’s rebel candidate) Latifur Rahman bagged 33,883 votes by securing third position in the race while the AL-backed candidate in the 4th spot.
Returning officer Abdul Baten announced the results from district’s Shilpakala Academy around 12.15am when the vote counting completed.
Out of the 9 mayoral candidates, Mostafa contested the election with the "Plough" symbol while Amiruzzaman from Islami Andolon Bangladesh with “Hat Pakha” symbol. Rangpur is known as a stronghold of the Jatiya Party as the party’s founder late HM Ershad hailed from the district.
The returning officer said over 2, 79,000 out of 426,470 exercised their franchises in the RCC elections with 65.8 percent turnover.
Starting the RCC voting at 8.00am using electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 229 centers continued till around 8.30pm, with the scheduling to be ended at 4.00pm.
Nine candidates vied for the mayoral post while 183 people contested for councillor posts under 33 wards. 68 candidates fought the polls for 11 reserved seats.
Read more: Election violence under present EC drops to zero: CEC
The other mayoral candidates are Abu Raihan from Bangladesh Congress, Touhidur Rahman Mandal from Khelafat Majlish, Shafier Rahman from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Khorshed Alam from Zaker Party and Mehedi Hasan as independent candidate.
After the landslide victory, Mostafizur in an instant reaction said it is not his victory, rather the credit goes to the city dwellers.
Campaigning in the Rangpur City Corporation election ended on Sunday midnight amid much enthusiasm.
A total of 229 presiding officers, 1,349 assistant presiding officers and 2,698 polling officers are performing their duties to maintain order in the voting centres.
The first Rangpur City Corporation election was held on December 21, 2017. The tenure of the current mayor will expire on February 18, 2023.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said the voting was underway at a slow pace for using EVMs.
The voting might continue till 7-8 pm due the long queues at the polling centres, he added.
The EC would look into whether there is any other reason behind the delay in voting, he added.
Read more: Rangpur City Corporation: Voting begins amid enthusiasm
“We have got some allegations of slow voting due to electronic voting machines (EVMs) but all the voters at the centers will be allowed to exercise their franchise till night,” he said.
The Election Commission was monitoring the election through CC cameras from a control room.
Won't allow anyone to play with fate of people: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said her government would not allow anyone to play ducks and drakes with the fate of the people of the country anymore.
“It is our only goal so that none can play ducks and drakes with the fortune of the people of this country,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the President of Bangladesh Awami League, was addressing a meeting of her party’s presidium committee at her official residence Ganobhaban in the city.
She said the people of Bangladesh once had to suffer a lot. “But they won’t need to suffer any in future. My only goal is to ensure a decent, improved and prosperous life for them. We want to do this,” she said.
Talking about the AL’s new committee formed through its recent national council, she said the members of the committee will be elected against the vacant posts as per the party’s charter.
Describing Awami League as a strong organisation, the AL chief said her government has successfully tackled any disaster and troubles including terrorism, militancy, pandemic and other problems as there is a strong organisation, it’s every leader and activist is active and stands beside the people.
She asked her party men to keep in mind that this organisation, Awami League, is a great strength for them.
“If the party remains strong as well as the public trust and confidence can be gained, it isn't a very tough job to govern the country and make the development of the country,” she said.
The PM said the people were exploited and tortured as well as deprived of knowing the true history of the Liberation War and the country including the historic 7th March speech during the period of 1975-1996.
She said the people had been able to know true history only when AL came in power. The people were kept in the dark regarding invaluable assets like historic 7th March speech, she added.
“It is the Awami League that showed (the nation) the way of light. Today's development, whatever the country achieved, came through with the hands of Awami League during the periods of 1996-2001 and 2009-2022,” she said.
The premier said her government has ensured five basic rights of the people, which are stated in the constitution.
She said her government made a massive infrastructural development in the last 14 years, including construction of Padma Bridge, implementation of metro-rail project and Karnaphuli tunnel. Besides, Bangladesh could attain food autarky, saw massive development in education and health sectors in the time, she added.
Read more: Anti-liberation forces and killers of Bangabandhu are always trying to make Bangladesh a ‘failed state’: PM to AL activists
Noting that once Bangladesh was neglected in the international arena, Sheikh Hasina said now Bangladesh gets dignity everywhere in the world as the Awami League government did a massive development spree for the country.
“We’ve done huge works for the development of the country after forming the government. Whatever we work, we do in very planned ways,” she said.
Read more: Zia, Ershad and Khaleda Zia turned Bangladesh into a ‘nation of beggars’: PM
Mashrafe becomes AL's youth and sports secretary
Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza MP, the lawmaker from Narail-2, has become Youth and Sports Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League.
The decision was made at the party presidium meeting held at Ganobhaban on Monday night.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader confirmed it after the meeting.
Mashrafe, popularly known as the 'Narail Express', earned a landslide victory in his local area Narail-2 constituency in the 11th national election.
Read more: No scope for Mashrafe to return, hints BCB chief
By-polls to 5 vacant seats: AL to start distributing application forms Wednesday
Awami League will start distributing application forms from Wednesday for the party’s nomination in elections to five parliamentary seats, left vacant after BNP MPs resignation.
By-polls to the five parliamentary seats will be held on February 1 next year.
Read more: By-elections to 5 vacant seats of BNP MPs on Feb 1, 2023
The aspirants were asked to collect and submit the forms from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office from 10.30am to 4.30pm on December 28-31, said an AL press release.
The aspirants also asked to maintain health protocols and not to make crowd during the collection and submission of the application froms.
The aspirants have to bring the photocopy of their respective national identity cards to collect the nomination forms.
The Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule of the by-elections on December 18.
Read more: 5 parliamentary seats now vacant after BNP MPs’ resignation: Speaker
EC will conduct the by-polls to parliamentary seats -- Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4, Bogura-6, Chapainawabganj-2 and Brahmanbaria-2.
The EC secretary said candidates can submit their nomination papers till January 5. Returning officers will scrutinize the nomination papers on January 8 and January 15 has been set as the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
Accepted leadership of the party considering the volatile global economy: PM Hasina
Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said that she accept leadership of the party this time considering the volatile global economic situation.
“One must not take (leadership) responsibility so many times. But I accepted the responsibility considering the current global situation. You have to consider that I am getting older,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said this while exchanging greetings with party leaders and activists at Ganabhaban after being elected president of AL for the 10th time.
Read more: AL National Council: Not easy to lead both party and government, says PM
She said that the confidence and trust of the masses are AL’s biggest strength.
“We only believe in the power of the people,” she said.
“You must strengthen the party giving highest priority to this. This is my request to you,” she told party leaders and activists.
She put importance on establishing Awami League offices in every district and upazila.
“The central AL will help the local units if they are unable to set up their offices,” she said.
She put emphasis on utilizing every inch of arable land in the country to increase production for averting any unwanted situation.
Read more: AL’s struggles will end when it can ensure smiles on the faces of people: PM Hasina
She mentioned that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and sanctions, economic recession has gripped the whole world. “Many rich countries have already declared to be in recession. Bangladesh must not get trapped in that situation. If we can produce extra food, we can export those in many countries mitigating our own demands.”
Sheikh Hasina put emphasis on strengthening the party through recruiting new members.
“We will form eight new teams for the eight divisions, their responsibilities will be to look after the recruitment of the new members,” she said.
She said that AL is the only organization that developed from the land and people of this country while BNP and Jatiya Party came from the pockets of military rulers who grabbed state powers illegally, violating the constitution of the country.
“They do not have any responsibility towards the people whereas we have the duties to improve the fate of the masses. Each and every leader and activist of AL have responsibilities in this regard,” she said.