The main opposition alliance in Bangladesh has on Tuesday, demanded to sack the chief election commissioner, accused him of being bias, ahead of election to be held on Sunday.
According to news reports, opposition spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they demanded the resignation of chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda as they found him biased and did not expect any fair and free election under his governance. Alamgir urged to appoint a neutral leader instead of Huda.
Alamgir, secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, said when they noticed an anti-government body and alliance moving out of Huda’s office after a meeting, they called for Huda’s resignation.
Alamgir said a meeting between the opposition leaders and election officials went failed after opposition alliance noticed an instances of attacks from December 10th campaigning.
He said, “But without paying heed to our allegations, the chief election commissioner talked in a biased and discourteous way that made us frustrated and shocked,” adding, “It is impossible to get neutral behavior let alone expecting a free, fair and neutral election under him.”
According to news reports, officials and media said more than 100 people including main opposition BNP were found injured and wounded during a political violence on Tuesday. Since December 10, around 1000 has been injured and six people has been killed.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch group has criticized Bangladesh’s security forces for “arresting and intimidating opposition figures and threatening freedom of expression ahead of the election”.