"BNP urged the public to abstain from voting in the "farcical" election, despite what he claimed to be constant threats and intimidation from the govt"

 Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP Senior leader Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan claimed on Friday January 5 that the government was using several unethical, immoral, and illegal actions—including pressuring voters—to demonstrate a fictitious turnout for Sunday's election.

At a news conference, the leader of the BNP urged the public to abstain from voting in the "farcical" election, despite what he claimed to be constant threats and intimidation from the government.

Just two days before the election, the BNP standing committee scheduled a news conference on the grounds of Moyeen Khan's Gulshan home. It was the BNP's first official in-person press conference following the October 28th big rally's derailment in the nation's capital.

"The one-sided election of seat sharing and distribution that is scheduled for January 7 is causing criticism and humour both domestically and internationally. The government has not stopped by fabricating dummy parties and candidates; they have now shifted their focus to forcibly fabricating dummy voters," Dr. Moyeen stated.
He said that all concerned citizens of the nation, including members of the BNP and 62 pro-democracy political parties, have already boycotted and rejected the alleged poll.

In an attempt to maintain its hold on power, the illegal government is attempting to portray the seat allocation plan as broad and democratic. Thus, the conspiracy's design has been created by the Awami League and certain state apparatus units.

The government's use of violence, he claimed, to demonstrate the existence of phoney voters in an election that is "meaningless" and taking place against the wishes of the people, is politically and ethically misguided.

As Dr. Moyeen put it, "The list of all their tricks to show the inflated number of voter presence is now clear to the international stakeholders...the Awami League and its submissive state apparatus have taken countless unethical, undemocratic, and unconstitutional initiatives to show false and fraudulent voter turnout."

He claimed the government's MPs are threatening millions of recipients of social safety net benefits with financial ruin if they do not attend the government-sponsored event, as part of an attempt to scare voters.

“At present, about 1.28  crore people are getting various social benefits which is an ongoing process under all governments.  Awami League has given instructions to ensure these beneficiaries and their family members go to the polling stations. It is being told that if they do not vote on January 7, their allowances will be cancelled,” he said.

The BNP leader also alleged that the central and local leaders of the Awami League have started seizing the cards of government beneficiaries in many places by resorting to coercive tactics.

“Beneficiaries are being threatened door to door that they will not get their cards back if they don't go to polling stations and vote in public. Initiatives are also being taken through the local administration to compel the beneficiaries of various types of social security programmes to cast their votes," he said.

 

Besides, he said, the government has unlawfully taken an unprecedented initiative to allow nearly two million government employees across the country to cast their votes by postal ballots.

“Such a decision imposed against their will has created frustration across large sections of the administration. This is an attempt to control the voting rights of government officials," he said.

Dr Moyeen said the illegitimate government and its subservient state machinery have focused on taking the postal votes of government officials and employees who will participate in the election process. “At the same time, the officials are also asked to ensure that their family members go to the polling stations. Apart from this, over a lakh of officers of private and autonomous organisations, involved in various electoral duties, including presiding and polling officers, are being asked to vote by postal ballots.”

He said a large part of 61 lakh members of Ansar and VDP will perform various duties on the so-called Election Day.  “A letter has been sent from the headquarters to each unit and battalion to ensure postal voting for all of them and at least five members of each family to go to the voting centres.”

The BNP leader alleged that members of police across the country are on a mission to increase voter turnout.

“The police commissioner of Dhaka himself called the councilors of the two city corporations and urged them to ensure the presence of voters at the polling stations as much as possible. The SPs and OCs of the police in various places are directly involved in the campaign of Awami League candidates and asking people to cast their votes. A question has arisen in the public mind, who has given the police the political responsibility to increase voter participation? What is the constitutional and legal basis for this biased and partisan behavior?

He accused the Awami League leaders of threatening people with revoking their national ID cards and stopping different utility services if they do not go to the polling stations

Besides, Dr Moyeen said the ruling party leaders and workers are making preparations to increase the presence of voters by resorting to various tricks and terror acts and casting fake votes.

 He called upon the people to face the threats of the illegal government with courage and keep records of the names of those who were forcing them to go to the polling stations.

"We want to say that the time of this one-party government is over. So there is no more reason to care about their unjust and illegal threats. We hope that the people of Bangladesh will soon be freed from the grip of one-party rule," he said 

 Another BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said the government has been carrying out subversive acts like torching vehicles and trains to shift the blame on BNP and malign its peaceful movement.

He claimed that by conducting an unfair election, the ruling party is manipulating the destiny of the populace and undermining the nation and all of its accomplishments.

As part of a campaign to boycott the election, BNP Standing Committee member Selima Rahman urged the populace to observe the 48-hour hartal that their party will impose starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday in a peaceful manner.

"We have urged the public to abstain from voting and observe a strike. For this reason, the programme will be carried out peacefully by our leaders and employees," she stated.