Information and Broadcasting Minister and Joint General Secretary of the Awami League Hasan Mahmud said that people from across the country enthusiastically rejected BNP's boycott call by casting their votes during the polling festival.
He said this during an exchange of views with journalists in the ministry conference room at the secretariat on Tuesday.
The minister said: “BNP has carried out an anti-election campaign, called for a boycott, carried out a vicious train assault on January 5, and carried out sporadic attacks on polling booths on January 4, 5, and 6. People no longer support their stances of terror and fire, and the entire country has largely turned into an electoral festival.”
Following his fourth consecutive victory in the Chittagong-7 seat, Hasan said: "BNP and their like-minded parties are now drowning in apathy. They now realize that they suffered personally by abstaining from this election, the country did not suffer, and democracy continued to advance."
At a press conference, observers from the US, several EU nations, SAARC nations, including India, and OIC nations praised the flawlessly free and fair election that was held in the country and congratulated the prime minister on Monday, he said.
Human Rights high commissioner's statement is flawed and biased
Hasan claimed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' statement on the election barely made any mention of arson, hurling petrol bombs, or burning people. There is discussion of human rights and arrests, but the arrests are for people involved in arson.
He sought to request that the high commissioner for Human Rights speak out against the manner people are being slaughtered in Gaza.
The Commission's statement would have been right and appropriate if it had spoken about and opposed or "condemned" the way individuals were burned to death, and fear and fire were used to block elections, he said.
The prime minister was congratulated and told that the election was satisfactory by delegates from China, Russia, and India.
Hasan Mahmud said: "In the world context, we have always seen that what China and Russia say, the United States says the opposite."
“Our relationship with the United States is multidimensional. We are working together on various issues including security and also in the global arena. The US is our principal development partner. We're attempting to strengthen our bond with them even further,” he added.
Minister expresses gratitude to people and Election Commission
The information minister thanked and expressed gratitude to the people of the country as well as the Election Commission, adding that the election was held in an incredibly fair, transparent, and festive atmosphere, with significant public participation.
In certain areas, voter turnout was 70% or more, with an average of 41.8%, or around 42%. Besides, there was 69.43% votes in his area, maybe 80% in the prime minister's seat, he said.
Hasan Mahmud said that the Election Commission deserved to be applauded and commended for conducting the elections in a powerful, effective, and efficient manner.
Comparing this election to prior elections, as well as West Bengal, it appears that there have been significantly less violent occurrences than in the past, with the exception of a few rare instances, he added.
