Bangla opposition calls mass march to derail elections

DHAKA: Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia has called on citizens to stage a mass march to the capital Dhaka in an escalation of protests aimed at derailing controversial January elections.
Zia’s call stoked tensions in the impoverished country, where more than 100 people have died in clashes since late October when the opposition launched the protests to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign before next month’s poll.
Violence flared up in the capital hours after Zia’s speech as a police constable was killed and two policemen were injured after unidentified attackers hurled a petrol bomb at a van carrying officers, sub-inspector Azam Ali told AFP. “I urge all citizens to march to Dhaka on Dec. 29. This march is to say ‘no’ to these farcical elections and to say ‘yes’ to democracy,” Zia, a two-time former prime minister, said in a speech.
“Wherever you are, carry a red and green national flag and march to Dhaka. We call this a march for democracy,” she said in the capital.
She asked the citizens to form “protest committees” in every village to foil the polls. The center-left government insisted it would go ahead with the Jan. 5 election despite a boycott by opposition parties and major foreign nations announcing they won’t send any election observers.
On Monday, the United States joined the European Union and the Commonwealth countries in refusing to send observers to monitor polls, denting the credibility of the elections. Both the US and EU have raised questions about the polls as the winners of more than half of the seats in the 300-seat Parliament have already been declared because they face no opponents.
It means technically that Hasina’s Awami League government could form a government even before ballots are cast as the party and its allies have won 154 seats.




Zia’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its 17 allies including the country’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, called the uncontested victories “the worst scandal in the country’s election history.”
“It’s not an election. It’s shameless selection,” Zia said.