Jatiya Party (JaPa) Chairman GM Quader has brushed aside the possibility of rejecting the results of the 12th parliamentary election held on Sunday, but said the election will not get wider acceptance.
His party secured 11 seats in the election while Quader himself came out victorious from the Rangpur-3 constituency. In the previous election, JaPa (Ershad) secured 22 seats and sat on the opposition bench in Parliament since Jatiya Oikya Front—the alliance of other parties, including BNP—got only seven seats.
Talking to reporters at his ancestral residence in Rangpur city, Quader said the entire election did not go well for the country and whatever his fear was before the election happened on Sunday.
“There was a neutral election where the government wanted to remain neutral. On the other hand, they became winners where they wanted to get their candidates to win,” he claimed.
“I had already feared that this election would not be neutral. This is why many people did not want to join the election,” he said, adding that the 12th parliamentary elections will not get acceptance due to these reasons.
Quader claimed that his party’s polling agents were not allowed in the booths and that Boat supporters stuffed ballot boxes in their absence.
He mentioned that polls were not fair in Dhaka-1, where party candidate Salma Islam’s agents were sent out of the booths. He added that JaPa candidates could not win because of irregularities in Comilla-1, Narsingdi-2, Cox’s Bazar-4, Sherpur-1, Lalmonirhat-3, Sylhet-2, Gaibandha-3, Narayanganj-1 and 2, Chandpur-4, Kurigram-4, Bagerhat-4, Joypurhat-1, Nilphamary-1, and Rangpur-4 and 6 constituencies.
“Our candidates who would have won in these constituencies have been deprived of their victory,” the JaPa chairman said.
Apart from this, many more seats have been snatched by the Awami League men, he continued.
“We were getting news from various places… At one point, we became helpless. They (officials) assured us of action but no action was taken in the end,” he said.
He alleged that, in many constituencies, ruling party men met with JaPa candidates to force them to withdraw candidacy.
Quader said that the country and the government will have to pay for all these actions in the future.
The JaPa chairman said that his party did not get the expected results from Sunday’s election as many seats were snatched from his party.
“Different quarters, including some pro-government media, are saying that JaPa was given concession in 26 seats. The Awami League has indeed withdrawn its party candidates from these seats but there were strong independent candidates in all the constituencies. And these candidates were given all kinds of support from the party (AL).
“We have said before that we have no alliance with the Awami League. They promised us that the administration would be neutral in the elections and would keep their candidates free from using the influence of arms and money,” Quader went on to say.
He said the results of the election have proved that the Awami League did not give up on any seat but rather snatched away JaPa’s victory in many seats.
“The government is intentionally or unintentionally spreading misinformation about seat sharing. This misinformation has confused the people.”
In response to a question, GM Quader said that between 10am and 2pm on the day of the election, his party received reports that various polling stations had been captured by Awami League supporters while JaPa agents were ejected from there. After that, the ruling party men and the presiding officers on duty stuffed the ballot boxes with fake votes. The returning officers did not come to any help despite repeated complaints, he claimed.
“We participated in the elections in good faith. But no one will trust them (AL) in the future,” the JaPa chairman added.
He further said that unprecedented irregularities were seen in several constituencies of Dhaka and Lalmonirhat, where ruling party supporters went to the houses of the JaPa candidates and threatened them.
Following the meeting with the media, the JaPa chairman—along with party leaders—visited the graves of his parents in Munshipara area of Rangpur. He also visited his late brother and party founder HM Ershad’s grave and offered prayer for the salvation of his soul.
