12th general election will be written in gold in history: Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says the history of the 12th national parliamentary election of Bangladesh will be ‘written in gold’.

“The spirit of the country’s Liberation War was destroyed by the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” she said at a meeting with people from all walks of life, the Awami League and its affiliated organisations at the Gonobhaban on Tuesday. “The contributions of millions of martyrs in the war for independence was also erased from history by distorting it. This is the most unfortunate thing for Bangladesh.”

“I have seen elections held in name only after the 1975 polls. The political parties were formed by those who were in power by rigging and stealing votes, providing false names in the voter list, and violating the Constitution and military law. These parties do not represent the people of this soil.”

Hasina said the Awami League was formed to speak for people’s rights and it has been working for them since its inception, despite efforts from Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman to demolish the party. She also accused Khaleda Zia of following in Zia’s footsteps by killing thousands of ruling party loyalists.

“Not only Awami League supporters, but people from all walks of life are affected by the BNP today. A person who has humanity cannot burn people to death like this. The BNP thought they would gain power in the 2008 polls, but they secured only 30 seats that year. The election outcome taught the BNP that the people of Bangladesh do not like terrorism, militancy, corruption and murder and they boycotted the party for these reasons. That’s why the BNP did not want to take part in the election.”

The prime minister offered thanks to the people for participating in Sunday’s polls, describing them as fair and competitive. She said the people spontaneously took part in the election aside from a few killers and war criminals.

“The participation of a few political parties among them all is not a big deal. The important thing is that people spontaneously took part in the election. An elderly person aged over 120 even went to cast a vote. What could be more important than this?” Hasina asked.

The ruling party chief also extended her gratitude to the Election Commission, law-enforcement personnel, the administration and those involved with election management for holding election while maintaining law and order.

“The election will be written in gold in the pages of history. I know the supporters of the parties who boycotted the election are disappointed now. I will tell them there is nothing to despair about these polls.”