Amar Bangladesh Party, AB Party, held a black-flag rally on Monday afternoon in Bijoy 71 square protesting staged election on ‘Felany Day’ with extremely poor turn out. No credible sources on the ground confirmed the voters turn out to have been more than 10%, including some of the paid election observers. The AB Party Election Monitoring Cell gathered field level reports from thousands of polling stations across the country which suggest 5-7% of voters attendance at the highest, unlike 41% announced by the Election Commission.
Mojibur Rahman Monju, Member Secretary of the AB Party, termed the election day as the most ‘darkest chapter’ in our electoral history. ‘Death of Democracy’ cannot be an option for nation born to be a People’s Republic. Overwhelming non-attendance of voters proved that the nation said an outright ‘NO’ to this ruling party. This one-sided election would push the ruling party towards more of an unpopular entity, disconnected from the people.
Prof. Dr. Abdul Wahab Minar, a retired army major and Joint Convenor of the AB Party, said that the silence of the whole nation should not be read as tacit approval for the ruling party. Citizens must come out of collective fear, reluctance and laziness to speak out against this authoritarian regime.
Asaduzzaman Fuaad, a barrister-at-law and Joint Member Secretary of the AB Party, said that we have lost our freedom, sovereignty and democracy on the 7th January 2024. To live like dignified citizens of a free country, we must strive for a new chapter of struggle. We must not wait for anyone’s help but make our own non-violent uprising a success. Patriots and freedom-loving people would eventually win.