11 killed, over 100 polling stations torched in Bangladesh elections

Police in Bangladesh fired at protesters and opposition activists torched more than 100 polling stations on Sunday during a national election boycotted by the opposition and described as flawed by the international community. At least 11 people were killed in election-related violence.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s refusal to heed opposition demands to step down and appoint a neutral caretaker to oversee the election led to the boycott, undermining the legitimacy of the vote. Opposition activists responded with attacks, strikes and transportation blockades in unrest that has already left at least 275 people dead since last year.

“We never expected such an election. For such a situation both the government and opposition are responsible. They don’t want to establish democracy,” said Aminul Islam, a Dhaka resident who refused to vote.

Police opened fire to stop protesters from seizing a polling centre in northern Rangpur district, killing two people. In a similar incident in neighbouring Nilphamari district, police fired into about two dozens of protesters, leaving two people dead.

Police gave no further details, but Daily Star newspaper said the three men belonged to the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Police said another seven people were killed in election-related violence elsewhere, including a polling official who was stabbed to death by suspected opposition activists.

So far, the turnout appeared to be low. The voting began at 8 am but local television stations showed mostly empty polling stations.

By midmorning, polling was suspended in at least 120 centres because of attacks, burning of ballots and election materials, an election official said.

At a polling station in Dhaka’s Mirpur district, only 25 out of 24,000 registered voters cast their ballot in the first two hours, with polling officials saying fear of violence and absence of any strong opposition kept people away.

“The boycott of the election by several parties may have contributed to the low turnout,” Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad told journalists at his Dhaka office.

 

The opposition boycott led to 153 of Parliament’s 300 elected seats going uncontested.

 

The European Union, the United States and the Commonwealth did not send observers for what they considered a flawed election. US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that Washington was disappointed that the major political parties had not reached a consensus on a way to hold free, fair and credible elections.