Jamaat, allies call protest march in Dhaka

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has called a protest march in Dhaka on Monday, alleging irregularities, vote rigging and post-election violence in the 13th parliamentary election.
The announcement came on Sunday afternoon after alliance leaders met Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. 
Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad and Ehsanul Mahbub Jubayer led the delegation.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Azad said homes of alliance leaders and activists were attacked following the election.
“We informed the Election Commission about these incidents. The alliance will bring out a protest march from Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka on Monday to protest the attacks,” he said.
Azad also claimed intimidation and fear reduced voter turnout and alleged that alliance polling agents were forcibly removed from some centres during vote counting.
“We repeatedly informed the Commission and raised these issues locally on behalf of all the parties that contested the election together, but we did not receive any satisfactory action,” he said.
He alleged that counting errors affected results, claiming result sheets contained erasures, overwriting and alterations, and that officials failed to obtain original agents’ signatures in many cases. He cited Dhaka-6 as an example, alleging the result sheet was written with a pencil.

The alliance demanded a recount in 32 constituencies, Azad confirmed. The meeting was held at the Election Commission office in Agargaon, where Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud and other officials were present. 
Other alliance representatives included liaison committee media coordinator Ehsanul Mahbub Jubayer, Jamaat leader Barrister Najibur Rahman Momen, Labour Party leader Mostafizur Rahman Iran, and central leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP).
The reporter can be reached at: [email protected]  

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