by Mohammad Al-Masum Molla in The Daily Star, Nov 16, 2023Bangladesh’s political climate appears to be in a perpetual stalemate considering how things stand in 2023 and how they were 10 years ago. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal announced the election schedule yesterday, and the two political rivals — the Awami League and the BNP — remain entrenched in their positions. Ten years and ten days ago, then CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed announced the…
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Report in The Daily Star, Nov 16, 2023Awami League General Secretary Obaidullah Quader yesterday ruled out the possibility of engaging in dialogue with opposition parties, saying the time for dialogue is over. However, BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan told The Daily Star that BNP is always open for dialogue. “When will the dialogue take place? The election schedule is being announced today [yesterday],” Quader told journalists after a talk with US Ambassador Peter…
Report in Prthom Alo, Nov 16, 2023Chattogram: An upazila level leader of the governing Awami League has threatened to kill the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter D Haas, while addressing a public rally. A 28-second video clip of the public speech of Faridul Alam, senior vice-president of Maheshkhali upazila unit of Awami League in Cox’s Bazar, went viral on Wednesday. The US embassy in Bangladesh expressed their concerns in this regard. Faridul Alam on 6…
By Mohammad Al-Masum Molla in The Daily Star, Nov 15, 2023The BNP activists will take to the streets once the Election Commission unveils the polls schedule, party insiders said. It is likely to announce a siege to the Election Commission Secretariat along with the blockade that is on, they added. The party is also considering replying to the letter from US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu about talks on the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad polls.…
by Mohiuddin Alamgir in The Daily Star, Nov 15, 2023The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the 12th parliamentary polls this evening. The EC may also announce that ballot papers will be sent to the polling stations on the morning of the election day, and deputy commissioners and divisional commissioners will act as returning officers, instead of EC officials, something that had earlier been planned. More than one election commissioner also said…
By Rashidul Hasan in The Daily star, Nov 13, 2023The Jatiya Party appears to have softened its tough stance against elections under the ruling Awami League. JP Chairman GM Quader used to say that with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in power, the next national election cannot be free and fair. He also used to say that there should be a system in which the government cannot influence or control polling. That’s why GM Quader’s November…
report in Prothom ALo, Nov 12, 2023On the first day of the fourth round of the blockade enforced by the BNP and the like-minded parties, at least five incidents of torching buses were reported across the country. Three buses were set ablaze in the capital city of Dhaka on Sunday. A bus was set on fire in the early morning in Sutrapur, while another incident took place in Mirpur on Sunday afternoon. The third bus…
report in Prothom ALo, Nov 12, 2023A Russian naval group has called at the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh for the first time in almost half a century, Russian state news agency TASS reported today, Sunday. The Pacific Fleet’s naval group comprises the large anti-submarine warfare ships Admiral Tributs and Admiral Panteleyev and the oceanic tanker Pechenga, a TASS correspondent reported from Chattogram. The Russian ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantytskiy told TASS that the last…
report in Prothom Alo, Nov 12, 2023The United Nations (UN) member states must use the upcoming universal periodic review (UPR) on Bangladesh to hold the authorities to account for the gross human rights violations and rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country ahead of its general elections, said Amnesty International. In a statement on Saturday, its deputy regional director for campaigns for South Asia, Livia Saccardi, said, “Bangladesh’s fourth UPR is taking place at…
report in Prothom Alo, Nov 12, 2023A total of 152 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed across the country to maintain law and order as the latest 48-hour countrywide blockade called by the BNP, Jamaat and likeminded opposition parties is underway. Shariful Islam, public relations officer (PRO) at BGB headquarters, confirmed the development on Sunday morning. Today, on the first day of the 48-hour blockade, 27 BGB platoons were deployed in Dhaka…