Awami League-backed candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon unofficially won the by-election to Gaibandha-5, held peacefully today (January 04, 2023).  Ripon won the election by defeating Jatiya Party-backed candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju with a margin of 33,533 votes.  The winning candidate bagged a total of 78,285 votes with the boat symbol while Ranju got 44,752 votes with the plough symbol.  The other candidates of the by-election were Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam and independent candidate Syed Mahbubur Rahman. Read more: Gaibandha-5 by-polls: Festive mood as voting underway Voting started at 8 am and continued till 4:30 pm. No untoward incident was reported. The election was monitored from Dhaka through a total of 1,242 CCTV cameras while it ended with only a 35 percent turnout. The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazilas. On October 12 last year, the Election Commission (EC) suspended the by-election due to “rampant irregularities” on the election day and later the commission fixed January 4 for holding the polls. Read more: Gaibandha-5 by-election held in a disciplined environment: CEC Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly it was scheduled for October 12. A three-member committee was formed to look into the election irregularities on October 12 last year. Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election. Read More: No irregularities reported yet in Gaibandha by-election: EC Rashida.

Voting in the by-election for Gaibandha-5 constituency, which was suspended due to irregularities, is underway with participation of voters in a festive mood. Voting started at 8 am and will continue till 4:30 pm. No untoward incident was reported till the filing of this report around 10 am. People were seen standing in long queues since morning, ignoring the cold. The presence of female voters is comparatively higher than their male counterparts. A total of 3,39,743 people are expected to exercise their franchise in 145 polling centres. Of them, 1,70,160 are females and 1,69,583 are male. District Election Officer and Returning officer Abdul Motaleb said that of the 145 polling centres, 72 are consider "important" while 32 are counted as "most important". Read: EC has 'no legal obligation' to bring parties to election All preparations have been taken to hold a smooth, free and fair election, he said. Elections will be monitored through CCTV cameras as done before. Rab, police, BGB and Ansar members will remain deployed to hold the election peacefully, said Motaleb. The candidates of the Gaibandha-5 by-election are: Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon, Jatiya Party candidate AHM Golam Shaheed Ranju, Bikalpa Dhara candidate Advocate Jahangir Alam and independent candidate Syed Mahbubur Rahman. The constituency consists of Saghata and Phulchhari upazilas. On October 12 last year, the Election Commission (EC) suspended the by-election due to “rampant irregularities” on the election day and later the commission fixed January 4 for holding the polls. Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. Accordingly it was scheduled for October 12. A three-member committee was formed to look into the election irregularities on October 12 last year. Following the recommendations of the committee, the Election Commission took punitive actions against 133 officials including an additional deputy commissioner, five sub-inspectors and returning officer of the election. Read More: EC to delve into slow voting complaint in Rangpur City Corporation Polls

The Election Commission (EC) has extended the deadline for holding any fresh election to the Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat by three months, or till January 20, 2023. While there was no concrete decision over if a new election will be held, pending an investigation into malpractices on the election day, the Election Commission said that the deadline has been extended to follow the rule of 90 days in holding an election after a seat falls vacant. According to Section 123(4) of the Bangladesh constitution, if a parliamentary seat becomes vacant, it must be filled through election within 90 days. Read: Gaibandha-5 by-election cancelled over 'malpractices' The new deadline came in line with law as the EC said the incident at Gaibandha-5 was “unwanted, unimaginable and beyond control.” Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. But the EC cancelled the election because of “widespread malpractices” on the election day on October 12.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said on Wednesday that former chief election commissioners, election commissioners and secretaries endorsed the Election Commission’s decision over the suspension of the Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat by-polls. He made the remarks at the EC headquarters in Dhaka after a meeting with the former officials to discuss the election process. “The decision to cancel the election at Gaibandha-5 was correct,” he said of the outcome of a closed-door discussion with them. “We invited them to discuss if the decision regarding the Gaibnadha-5 by-polls was fine in line with law. Everybody said it was correct,” he said. The CEC said that the former election commissioners and secretaries advised the EC to maintain “continuity” of its work and action. He said that the former election commissioners also told the EC that use of the CCTV cameras and the EVMs are helpful in holding a free and fair election. Read: Gaibandha-5 polls: Not a reckless decision, says CEC But former Election Commissioner Sakhawat Hossain told reporters that he advised the EC to use the CCTV cameras more instead of EVMs. “Good or bad, there is controversy about EVMs. More use of CCTV cameras will be better with the (same) budget meant for the EVMs at 150 parliamentary seats,” he said. "Where EVMs are needed, use them. (But) ballot papers are possible to find out if they are taken (snatched by someone). Subtle manipulation is possible with EVMs. There is no chaos outside, nothing, but what was going on inside in Gaibandha that we saw,” he said. Sakhawat said that the Election Commission must maintain the continuity of what it has done regarding Gaibandha-5 by-polls. Otherwise, he said, people would think that the EC cancelled the election in Gaibandha to just demonstrate a scenario for a different reason. “So far so good, don't skip the next steps. If you do, then a different message will be sent to the nation that you have done this to show,” he said. He said that the EC should take action against the people responsible for manipulation in Gaibandha. Read: Gaibandha-5 by-election cancelled over 'malpractices' "If you fail to find out who is guilty and if you don’t take action regarding Gaibandha, then you will not get (the people’s) confidence in the future. So, it must be done,” he said. “Measures should be taken by applying the power that is there. Action should be taken against the officials who have issued letters claiming that the election was fair," he said in reference to the points he shared during the meeting with the EC. About the recent move to bring the NID registration under the Ministry of Home Affairs from the Election Commission, he said: “Why does the government want to take NID registration under the ministry? That is not clear. The Election Commission has developed the system for so many years. Whenever it will be taken the voter list will be questionable at some points, which is not right.” Former chief election commissioners--Abdur Rauf, KM Nurul Huda, Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed, former election commissioners M Sakhawat Hossain, Rafiqul Islam, Kavita Khanam, former EC secretaries Mohammad Sadiq, Mohammad Abdullah, Sirajul Islam, Helal Uddin Ahmed and former additional secretaries Jasmine Tuli and Mokhleshur Rahman took part in the discussion.

Ruling Awami League candidate Mahmud Hasan Ripon on Wednesday demanded publication of results of those polling centres where voting went unperturbed despite suspension of the entire election at Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat by the Election Commission (EC). The EC on Wednesday cancelled the by-election following allegations of vote rigging and intimidation.  “The EC has cancelled the by-election for mysterious reasons. Results of those polling centres where voting went smoothly must be published while re-election has to be conducted at those polling centres where voting was suspended,” Ripon told a press briefing held at the Bonapara AL office premises following the EC decision. Meanwhile, the voters protested against the EC’s decision to suspend the election. They demanded that the EC officials, including the Chief Election Commissioner, be withdrawn and punished. The EC had set October 12 for holding the by-election of Saghata-Fulchari parliamentary seat, or Gaibandha-5. Although the polling began peacefully at 8:00am, allegations of vote rigging and intimidation started to spread within a very short time. The CEC said widespread ‘malpractices’ prompted them to cancel the entire election. Read: Gaibandha-5 by-election cancelled over 'malpractices' Independents and other candidates started boycotting the election, alleging that the polling centers have been occupied by activists of the ruling party. By 1:00pm, voting at all the polling stations was stopped by the EC. “The Gaibandha-5 by-election has gone out of control,” the CEC told reporters at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.  “We’ve noticed from the start that malpractices were taking place and illegal entries were being made at the secret places (booths),” he said.   Upon hearing about the cancellation, voters who couldn’t cast their votes rallied against the EC’s decision. Some cordoned off the Saghata Upazila Parishad and burned effigies of the CEC in front of the office of Fulchari Upazila Nirbahi Officer.

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday suspended the by-election at Gainbandha-5 parliamentary seat over widespread allegations of vote rigging and voter intimidation, said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal. “The Gaibandha-5 by-election has gone out of control,” the CEC told reporters at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.  “We’ve noticed from the start that malpractices were taking place and illegal entries were being made at the secret places (booths),” he said.   “We’ve clearly seen that voters were being intimidated. There were symbols of candidates on the clothing of the polling agents, which is a violation of election code of conduct,” he said. He, however, did not name any candidate for the wrongdoing. According to Section 91 of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), if the Election Commission finds that an election isn’t taking place fairly, the EC can stop election in some or entire constituency, the CEC said as he clarified the reasons behind the suspension. “After much discussion and inspection, it seemed to us that some candidates were influencing the election by various means,” he said.   The CEC said voting at 51 polling centres were postponed in phases after the voting began at 8:00 am, and by 12:30 pm it was evident that massive irregularities had taken place. He said CCTV cameras set up at polling stations were disconnected and the EC officials could not monitor what was going on from a control room at the EC headquarters in Dhaka. “We thought that if vote rigging has taken place at 51 polling centers, then the election at the rest of the centers will not have a real outcome. As a result, we suspended the entire Gaibandha-5 by-election,” the CEC said.   Read: By-election to Gaibandha-5 on October 12 About the next course of action, the CEC said that they review laws and decide later what to do about this election. “Through this election the EC has become aware of the hazards that take place during elections,” he said. He reconfirmed that all the EVMs used at Gaibandha-5 election were working properly.“The EC has the guidance on what to or not to do to ensure free and fair election. There was no mechanical problem during the election, all the EVMs worked properly. The problem was caused by humans. To find out who were responsible for the malpractices, a thorough investigation is needed,” the CEC added. As per Section 91 (a) of the RPO, the EC can stop election at any polling station or the entire constituency at any stage, if it is convinced that it shall not be able to ensure the conduct of the election “justly, fairly and in accordance with law “ because of “malpractices” including coercion, intimidation and pressures.   Gaibandha-5 constituency consists of 10 unions of Saghata upazila and 7 unions of Phulchhari upazila. Mahmud Hasan Ripon (Awami League), AHM Golam Shahid Ranju (Jatiya Party), Advocate Jahangir Alam (Independent ), Nahiduzzaman Nishad (Independent) and Syed Mahbubur Rahman (Independent) were contesting the election. There are 3 lakh 39 thousand 743 voters. After former MP and Deputy Speaker of the 11th National Parliament Fazle Rabbi Mia died on July 23 the Gaibandha-5 seat fell vacant.