Politics
Fakhrul barred from entering BNP’s Nayapaltan office
BNP Secretary General Mirza Faklhrul Islam Alamgir has been barred from entering BNP’s Nayapaltan Central Office this morning (December 08, 2022).
Police stopped Fakhrul when he reached the Bijoynagar intersection around 10:50 am, after he appeared before a Dhaka court today morning.
Police officers told the senior BNP leader that they will not allow anyone to go into the BNP office until their necessary work is done for security reasons, as they “recovered bombs” from there.
BNP central office remained vacant since last night (December 07, 2022) after the police raid, but a large number of law enforcers remained deployed in the area since this morning.
A tense situation is prevailing in the area in Dhaka where traffic movement has been disrupted since Wednesday night following the clash between BNP activists and police.
No one is being allowed to enter the area without ID, as police have set up barricades at the Nightingale intersection in Bijoynagar and Fakirapool. No vehicles were seen in front of the BNP office.
Most offices, shopping malls and shops in the area were closed till 10 am this morning.
Locals said that they are panicked as a huge number of policemen are taking position in the area. They were also facing difficulties in going to their respective destinations.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday claimed that two leaders of their party’s student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal were killed and over 100 others were injured in an attack by police when bullets were fired in front of their party’s Nayapaltan central office.
Besides, he said, around 600 BNP leaders and activists, including party’s senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam and north city unit convener Amanullah Aman, were arrested from the party office.
The DMP commissioner, meanwhile, said BNP men exploded cocktails from their party office and for that the drive was carried out.
“We beefed up security by increasing the number of police. It was an official day, and they (BNP) didn’t take prior permission to hold the rally”, he said.
Lawmakers from the Awami League and independent candidates elected in the January 7 polls took their oath as members of the parliament today. The ceremony, administered by the 11th Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, commenced at 10:30 am in the Parliament Complex’s Oath Room.
Speaker Chaudhury, along with independent parliament members, took oath earlier, with Jatiya Party and other faction MPs following suit at 12 pm. The constitution mandates newly elected MPs to take the oath within three days of election results being published in an official gazette, as per Article 148 (2A). A gazette notification on the 12th National Elections’ results, detailing 298 newly elected members, was issued on Tuesday. The new cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in at Bangabhaban at 7 pm on Thursday (January 11).
The Awami League secured 222 out of 298 seats, with independent candidates, mostly aligned with AL, winning 62 seats. Jatiyo Party and single candidates from other parties also claimed victories. After the oath, the AL parliamentary party will elect Sheikh Hasina as their leader, paving the way for her fifth term as prime minister. The president will administer the oath to the new prime minister, who will then form a cabinet with ministers and state ministers chosen by her.
The Awami League (AL) is gearing up to celebrate its victory in the national polls with a rally in Dhaka. Scheduled for January 10 at Suhrawardy Udyan, the event coincides with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Homecoming Day, as announced by Obaidul Quader, the party’s general secretary, during a press conference at the Dhaka District Awami League office in Tejgaon on Monday afternoon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Awami League, is set to lead the rally, commencing at 2:30 pm. The Awami League secured an overwhelming majority in the parliamentary elections, winning 223 out of 299 seats. This decisive victory paves the way for Prime Minister Hasina’s fourth consecutive term and her fifth term in total. The rally at Suhrawardy Udyan serves as a platform for the Awami League to celebrate its triumph and rally support.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen stated that if the United States’ statements about the visa policy are accurate, then the policy should be applied to BNP leaders as they aim to disrupt the election. The foreign minister made these comments after a meeting with a US observer team at his residence in Sylhet in the evening.
He mentioned that BNP’s current popularity in the country has declined, and they have chosen the path of terrorism. He added that the people of the country are not concerned about Khaleda Zia’s imprisonment, and the party is suffering due to the immaturity of its leadership.
In response to a question, the minister mentioned that 227 observers and journalists from various countries worldwide would come to monitor the upcoming election. He noted that members of the US observer team did not provide comments on the election; instead, they were gathering information. The US team included Geoffrey McDonald, Senior Advisor, Asia Pacific, IRI, Amitab Ghosh, Senior Program Manager, IRI, and David Hogstra, Program Manager, IRI.
