The Awami League (AL) has won 222 seats out of 298 in yesterday's 12th parliamentary election, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal. The CEC revealed this information at a media briefing at Election Commission (EC) media centre here in the city.   Kazi Habibul Awal informed that out of 300 constituencies, polls to one constituency- Naogaon-2 were postponed following the death of a candidate. EC will announce the result of another constituency, Mymensingh-3, later as polling of one centre was withheld, he mentioned. The polls of the one centre of Mymensingh-3 will be held on January 13, he added. After the AL, he said, independent candidates were the most successful in the January 7 election, winning 62 seats. However, he informed, Jatiya Party won 11 seats while Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Workers Party and Bangladesh Kalyan Party won one seat each.   He also informed that a total of 41.8 percent vote was cast in the national election. Kazi Habibul Awal said the voting in 12th Jatiya Sangsad election was comparatively peaceful.   Source: BSS

41.8 percent of voters exercised their franchise in the just-concluded parliamentary polls in Bangladesh, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has said. “Anyone doubting the information can challenge it. We challenge critics (who don’t believe this number) to come up with evidence to back up their claim,” he told reporters at the Election Commission office in Agargaon in Dhaka on Monday (January 8). Habibul Awal also said that the Japanese observation team has praised the elections.   He said they initially released a turnout number based on information received until 2pm. However, analysing the final results of 298 centres showed the turnout to be 41.8 percent.   CEC told reporters on Sunday that 40 percent of votes were cast across the country. He said journalists collected information in 299 constituencies. There was no serious violence. A candidate's candidature was cancelled before the end of the election. There were reports of arson in some polling stations.   "Two of our polling officers died of cardiac arrest while on duty," he added.   The Awami League secured the majority in the elections, bagging 224 seats out of 299. Among the rest are 62 independent candidates, 11 from the Jatiya Party, and a candidate from another party.   Apart from this, due to the death of a candidate in Naogaon-2 constituency, voting was held in 299 constituencies. However, the polling of Mymensingh-3 (Gouripur) constituency was closed on Sunday (January 7) afternoon due to irregularities and clashes. Hence, the result of the seat is pending.

The results of 214 out of 299 constituencies have been received till 11:40 pm on Sunday (January 7). According to the unofficial results, Awami League candidates secured 157 seats . Apart from this, 49 independent candidates and 8 Jatiya Party candidates have been elected. The party that wins more than half of the 300 seats i.e. 151 or more seats forms the government. As such, Awami League has already secured 157 seats . As a result, the party lead by Sheikh Hasina is going to form the government for the fourth consecutive time.

Preliminary results from the 12th national election have unveiled an unexpected outcome for actress Mahiya Mahi, who, failed to secure any votes in 17 polling stations of Rajshahi-1 (Godagari and Tanore). Out of a total of 136 polling stations, Mahi managed to secure 8,262 votes under the truck symbol.  However, her inability to garner support in a significant number of stations raised eyebrows, marking a challenging outcome for the popular actress. The constituency saw the triumph of the incumbent Member of Parliament and Awami League candidate, Omar Farooq Chowdhury, who secured an impressive 86,846 votes. Independent candidate Ghulam Rabbani was not far behind with 74,261 votes under the Kanchi symbol. Voting in Rajshahi-1 began at 8 am on Sunday, January 7, with the counting process starting promptly at 4 pm. The constituency boasts a total of 440,218 voters, comprising 219,653 male voters and 220,564 female voters. In response to the results, Mahiya Mahi released a statement expressing her acceptance of the outcome. She emphasised her unwavering commitment to serving the local community in the days ahead, regardless of the election results.    

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has won from the Narail-2 constituency on an Awami League ticket to retain the parliamentary seat. He bagged 189,102 votes from 147 centres after Sunday’s (Jan 7) voting, while his nearest rival Sheikh Hafizur Rahman got 4,041 votes, according to unofficial results. A third candidate, Mohammad Nur Islam, managed 1,363 votes.   An elated Mashrafe, who’s led Bangladesh in cricket, thanked the people on Facebook. “Thank you, the people of Narail,” he wrote on his verified page.  

Jim Bates, an election observer from the US, has described the 12th national election as “free and fair.” "I would like to say it is a free and fair election already," he told.   “So when they say ‘low turnout,’ that’s something to manoeuvre the press,” Bates said.   “The thing they keep talking about is low turnout, that is a misnomer. In some countries, voting goes on until 5/6pm or even months,” he added. Foreign observers visited several centres on Sunday (Jan 7).  “At this point, it looks peaceful. Hopefully that will remain the case throughout the day,” said another observer. Around 127 foreign observers are currently in Dhaka to observe the 12th national election.  

CEC made the statement in a speech addressing the nation on Saturday evening (Jan 6). Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Saturday called upon the voters to exercise their voting rights freely braving all fears and concerns.  “I urge all voters to cast your valuable votes to your favorite candidate freely and fearlessly tomorrow,” the CEC said in a televised address to the nation this evening. “Cast your vote with enthusiasm and festivity to discharge your civic responsibility in forming the next parliamentary government,” he said. “Vote is yours. Don’t be influenced by anyone’s persuasion or intervention. If you face any kind of obstacle, immediately inform the presiding officer,” he added. The CEC asked the presiding officers to discharge their responsibility to ensure voters’ right by any means. Police and magistrates will stay in all polling centres to extent all-out cooperation to the presiding officers, he said.   All modes of transports will ply except motorcycle, microbus, taxicab and truck to facilitate the voters to reach the polling centers, the CEC said. CEC said that vote rigging, ballot snatching, money transactions, and possible use of muscle power in favour of any candidate or candidates will be strictly resisted.  If evidence is found, their candidature will be cancelled immediately. If necessary, voting in the centre or constituency will be completely suspended.