Controversy grips Bangladesh's local polls

Dhaka: Controversy gripped Thursday's local government elections in Bangladesh amid reports of rigging and violence while election commission slammed the ruling Awami League for misusing offices and ordered legal action against a minister and lawmaker.

Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina's Awami League men won in most of the "upazilas" or sub-districts but clashes between rival supporters and alleged attempts of rigging forced authorities to postpone polls in six out of 480 upazilas and a number of polling centres elsewhere for the crucial local government poll that came after a lapse of 19 years.

The election commission and poll observers reported a "very low" turnout of voters compared to 87 per cent of votes cast in last month's landmark general election that installed Hasina's Awami League to power with a three-quarter majority in the 300-seat parliament.

A visibly annoyed Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda told newsmen late Thursday that the ruling ministers and MPs exerted much of their influence as several observers identified political interference and fears of clashes to have caused the low turnout alongside voters apathy as the poll came less than a month after the general election.

"We wanted to hold the upazila polls earlier [during the past interim government] . . .it appears that a neutral election is not possible under a political government," election commissioner brigadier (retd) Sakhawat Hossain added.

The commission officials said they asked judicial magistrates to take legal actions against a cabinet minister and a ruling party lawmaker along with several other "troublemakers" for allegedly trying to influence upazila council elections.

"A minister was found present at a polling station today and an MP was found assaulting polling personnel [at another centre]. They were not supposed to visit the places but they went there and created problems forcing us to suspend polling," Huda told reporters.

Last month's general election was widely certified as "fair and credible" by domestic and foreign poll observers and the international community.