AL in full gear to boost voter turnout
Quader says there is no special arrangement to bring voters to poll centres
The Awami League has made comprehensive preparations to ensure maximum voter turnout and peaceful polling by addressing the BNP-Jamaat's hartal and potential disruptive actions to prevent the elections scheduled for 7 Januray.
Several leaders of the policy-making level of the AL told The Business Standard that the party is focused more on voter turnout as a response to foreigners who are criticising the elections' legitimacy.
They said the party has established unit-based committees for each polling centre to enhance voter turnout and promote its candidates across the country's 42,000 polling stations. Each committee comprises 300 grassroots leaders as members.
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Abdur Rahman, AL presidium member, said these committees will maintain an orderly polling environment and encourage voter participation, as well as address any attempts to disrupt the vote.
During a press conference in the capital, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader urged voters to go to the polling stations early and encourage others to vote.
He said there is no special arrangement to bring voters to the centre. "We have a team of leaders and activists to encourage voters to go to the centre. This team will do the work."
Most voters will come to polling stations spontaneously, he added.
Meanwhile, the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have called for boycotting the elections and declared a nationwide 48-hour hartal from Saturday morning.
About the BNP's hartal on the election day, Quader said hartal is now an obsolete tool in the politics of Bangladesh, while hartal and blockades now remain in the BNP's programmes only but not in reality.
Regarding foreign criticism, Quader said, "Our foreign friends want Western-standard democracy in Bangladesh. Therefore, they should impose visa restrictions on those who obstruct democracy in Bangladesh."
He highlighted that around 200 foreign observers and journalists, including the EU delegation, American IRI, and NDI representatives, are in Bangladesh to monitor the elections, ensuring a competitive, free, fair, and acceptable process
