Ganatrantra Mancha vows to continue movement

Bangladesh desk:  Leaders of the Ganatantra Mancha, a combine of six political parties, on Tuesday declared to continue movement until their one-point demand of resignation of the Awami League government would be met.

The leaders also said that the movement would be further expanded, and they would decide the style of the next movement by discussing it with their allies.

Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorik Oikya, came up with the announcement at a press conference arranged by the Ganatrantra Mancha at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.

Manna said, ‘We were in the movement, and still we are in our movement. And consistently, we have been holding every programme since October 28.’

‘We declare that we will continue this movement continuously.’

He said that the simultaneous movement would be continued, and they would expand it.

‘However, the style of the movement will be decided through discussion,’ he said.

Talking about the reactions of different countries about the election, he said, ‘You may have seen the reaction of the United States. Most of the countries, including the United States, said that this election was not an election.’

‘We believe that the power of democracy is with us. It will give us strength to achieve victory in future,’ Manna added.

Saiful Haque, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, said that the Indian government had not given any reaction to the polls considering the farce that had been staged in the name of elections and the way people’s right to vote had been taken away once again.

He said, ‘We believe that India has given its response considering the current government’s strategy and strategic geopolitical interests in the region.’

‘We have observed this reaction of India standing against the democratic aspirations of the people of Bangladesh.’

‘Even with the reactions given by China and Russia, considering their geo-political interest in Bangladesh, we have seen their support for prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.’

Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, in a written statement, said that there was no chance of a change of power in the farce election that was held on January 7.

The ruling party organised an artificial contest by fielding dummy candidates among themselves, he said.

Apart from this, by sharing seats with the current and former allies of the government party, they had also closed the minimum space for competition, he said.

Saki said that the major political parties in the country rejected the farcical election as it was uncontested and one-sided.

‘Therefore, it cannot be regarded as an election. In fact, such polls will be mentioned in history as the last nail in the coffin of democracy,’ he added.

He said that the AL government tried to force people to come to the polling stations through threats and intimidation.

The absence of voters in the polling stations was a visible reality and the voter turnout hardly crossed 10 per cent in most of the centres. No votes were cast in 19 centers in the hilly areas.

To suppress this rejection by people, they cast fake votes by inserting pre-sealed ballot papers into boxes, creating fake voter lines in front of the polling stations, and placing dummy agents in the centres, said Saki

Saki said that they could not take the voting percentage higher than 28 per cent even after rigging.

The election commission’s live vote monitor showed an average voter turnout of 28 per cent till 9:30pm.

During the briefing, chief election commissioner Habibul Awal said that 28 per cent of the votes would be counted, but he was told from the side that it would be 40 per cent.

‘Since then, the Election Commission has been saying that 40 per cent of the votes have been cast. But earlier, it was said that 26 to 27 per cent votes were cast until 3:00pm. 13 to 14 per cent increase in votes in the last hour is magical considering the rate of voting throughout the day,’ he added.

Convener of Bhasani Anusari Parishad, Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, and general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan, were also present at the press conference.