Describing the voting to 11th national election as a farce, opposition alliance Jatiya Oikya Front has demanded a fresh election.
Its convener Dr Kamal Hossain made the call before the media at his Dhaka residence on Sunday (Dec 30), some four hours after the polls closed across the country.
“We are boycotting this farcical election and demand a re-eletion,” he said.
Alleging of widespread vote rigging across the country, Kamal said, “So far, more than 100 candidates of different parties have boycotted the polls. I ask the Election Commission to scrap the polls. We denounce the results and demand a fresh election under a neutral administration.”
He said their struggle to “institutionalise democracy” will continue, before adding, “We will sit tomorrow in a meeting to decide on our next course of action.”
Blaming the government of breaking its promises, the Gano Forum chief said, “Despite unpleasant experiences in the past, we took part in the election on the government’s assurance that our candidates will not be harassed, but that was not the case at all.”
He alleged that the Awami League supporters, in collusion with election officials, stuffed stamped ballots in boxes on the night before the voting.
Oikya Front spokesperson and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the media call that the 2018 polls proved that the BNP’s decision to boycott the 2014 election was reasonable.
“It has been proved once again that a credible election is not possible under a partisan government,” he said.