Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the people not to worry about national and international conspiracies being hatched ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. "Next election is coming. National and international conspiracies are being hatched. But, we have nothing to worry as the people are always stand beside us with their votes," she said. The prime minister said this while holding a view exchange meeting with Tungipara Upazila Awami League, it's associate and friendly organisations, local public representatives and civil personalities at the Tungipara Upazila Awami League office. Bangladesh is due to hold the next national election in the first week of January next. Next election in Bangladesh will be free and neutral: PM Hasina Hasina, chief of the ruling Awami League, said that there had been several attempts on her life. She mentioned that she has reached today's position confronting bullets and bombs. "Allah has given task to every person and protects him or her till the work is accomplished. Allah is above and the leaders and activists of my party are on the ground to save me. The people belongs to my party always protect me whenever I am attacked," she said. PM’s Padma Bridge train journey: 11 individuals of different professions to accompany her Pointing at the grenade attacks on the Awami League rally on August 21, 2004 in which 22 people were killed, she said the leaders and activists had saved her forming human shield by giving their lives. "This is the great thing that I have got the chance to serve the people," she said. Sheikh Hasina said that the government has been working to materialise the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to change the fate of the people by giving them a better life. "I have been doing everything possible for the welfare of the people," she said. She thanked the people of her Tungipara-Kotalipara constituency for electing her repeatedly through votes despite the fact that she has not been able to give adequate time to them as she has to look into the welfare of entire country. Against the backdrop of the global economic recession and food crisis, the prime minister asked the people as well leaders and activists of her party to raise the production of food grains. "Bring very inch of land under cultivation to increase food production. We have to grow our food," she said. The prime minister reached Tungipara on Tuesday afternoon following opening of the Dhaka-Bhanga Rail Link at Mawa, Munshiganj end and addressing a grand rally at Dr Kazi Abu Yusuf Stadium at Bhanga in Faridpur. Soon after the premier along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana reached Tungipara, she paid homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman by placing floral wreath at his mausoleum and offered prayers and fateha there. She stayed overnight at Tungipara, her village home, and she is scheduled to leave for Dhaka this afternoon. Sweden wants to see free, fair and inclusive election in Bangladesh: State Secretary tells PM    

The triennial conference of Cumilla city unit of Awami League (AL) began at the city’s Town Hall ground on Saturday. The event was inaugurated by AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, also Road Transport and Bridges Minister. Presidium member of the party Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim spoke as the chief guest while another presidium member Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya was present as special guest. Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general secretary of AL, and Abu Saeed Al Mahmud Swapan, organizing secretary of the party, among others, joined  the council. Read more: Dhaka AL Council: Benzir named president, Poniruzzaman GS The committee of Cumilla city AL was announced for the first time on July 22, 2017, six years after the formation of Cumilla City Corporation (CCC). The Committee consisted of 71 members. AKM Bahauddin Bahar, Member of Parliament (MP) from Cumilla Sadar constituency and Arfanul haque Rifat, current Mayor of CCC, were made President and General Secretary of the committee.    

Japanese voters are casting ballots in national elections Sunday, a first big test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to determine if he has a large enough mandate to tackle a coronavirus-battered economy, a fast-aging and dwindling population and security challenges from China and North Korea. Up for grabs are 465 seats in the lower house, the more powerful of the two-chamber Japanese Diet, or parliament. Kishida's governing Liberal Democratic Party is expected to lose some seats from pre-election levels, but maintain a comfortable majority together with its junior coalition partner Komeito. Kishida, 64, was elected prime minister on Oct. 4 after winning the leadership race in his ruling party, as its conservative leaders saw him as a safe status-quo successor to Yoshihide Suga and his influential predecessor Shinzo Abe. Kishida’s immediate task has been to rally support for a party weakened by Suga’s perceived high-handed approach to pandemic measures and his insistence on holding the Tokyo Summer Olympics despite widespread opposition. Kishida dissolved the lower house only 10 days after taking office, calling for this election and declaring that he wanted a mandate from voters for his new government before getting to work. The short, 17-day interval between the lower house dissolution and the vote that followed the LDP leadership race, which had dominated media coverage, unfairly gave Kishida's party an advantage over the opposition, some experts say. Read: Japan's ruling party loses 1 of 2 by-elections in blow to PM Kishida Kishida’s long-term grip on power will depend on how well he does in the election. Kishida repeatedly stressed his determination to listen to the people and to address criticism that the nine-year Abe-Suga leadership had caused corruption, tamed bureaucrats and muzzled opposing opinions. The campaign has largely centered on COVID-19 response measures and revitalizing the economy. While Kishida’s ruling party stressed the importance of having a stronger military amid worries over China’s growing influence and North Korea’s missile and nuclear threat, opposition parties focused on diversity issues and pushing for gender equality. Opposition leaders complain that recent LDP governments have widened the gap between rich and poor, did not support the economy during the pandemic and stalled gender equality and diversity initiatives. Japan this year ranked 120th in the World Economic Forum's 156-nation gender-gap ranking. Kishida has set a modest goal for the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito. He wants to jointly keep their majority, which would be 233 seats in the 465-member lower house. That's a low bar, considering that the LDP alone had 276 seats before the election. A big drop, even if the party keeps its majority, would be a bad start for Kishida’s weeks-old administration. Media polls suggest the LDP is likely to lose seats, in part because five opposition parties formed a united front to unify candidates in many small electoral constituencies and are expected to gain positions there. If, as many predict, the ruling coalition secures 261 seats, they could control all parliamentary committees and easily push through any divisive legislation. Most results are expected by early Monday. The opposition has long struggled to win enough votes to form a government after a brief rule of the now-defunct center-left Democratic Party of Japan in 2009-2012, as they have not been able to show a grand vision for Japan. On the economy, Kishida has emphasized growth by raising incomes, while opposition groups focus more on redistribution of wealth and call for cash payouts to pandemic-hit low-income households. Read: Japan's Kishida sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine Kishida, in his final speech Saturday in Tokyo, promised to spur growth and “distribute its fruit” to the people as income. “It’s for you to decide who can responsibly do so.” The LDP opposes legislation guaranteeing equality for sexual minorities and allowing separate surnames for married couples. Of the 1,051 candidates, only 17% are women, despite a 2018 law promoting gender equality in elections, which is toothless because there is no penalty. Women account for about 10% of parliament, a situation gender rights experts call “democracy without women.” Voters, including young couples with small children, started arriving at polling stations in downtown Tokyo early in the morning. Shinji Asada, 44, said he compared COVID-19 measures to pick a candidate, hoping for a change of leadership, as he thought the ruling party lacked explanation and transparency over its pandemic measures. He said that despite Kishida's promise to be more mindful of the people's voices, “I thought nothing would change (under him) after seeing his Cabinet," whose posts largely went to party factions that voted for him. A 50-year-old part-time worker, Kana Kasai, said she voted for someone who she thought would “work fingers to the bone” for a better future.

An alliance of Iraqi candidates representing Shiite militias supported by neighboring Iran has emerged as the biggest loser in the country’s national elections, according to partial results released Monday. The results, posted online successively, also showed the bloc of Iraq’s populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr maintaining the most seats in parliament, leading in several of Iraq’s 18 provinces, including the capital Baghdad. Al-Sadr, a maverick leader remembered for leading an insurgency against U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion, appeared to have increased his movement’s seats in the 329-member parliament from 54 in 2018 to more than 70. With 94% of the ballot boxes counted, none of the competing political blocs appeared on track to win a majority in parliament and consequently name a prime minister. But as the results stand, al-Sadr’s bloc will be able to take a leading role in the political horse-trading to find a compromise candidate and set the political agenda for the next four years. Read: Iraq's parliamentary vote marred by boycott, voter apathy Al-Sadr’s candidates beat out Iran’s favored candidates from the Fatah Alliance to come out first, according to preliminary results. The Fatah Alliance, led by paramilitary leader Hadi al-Ameri, is comprised of parties and affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly pro-Iran Shiite militias. The alliance rose to prominence during the war against the Sunni extremist Islamic State group. It includes some of the most hard-line Iran-backed factions, such as the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia. It was not immediately clear Monday how many seats the Fatah Alliance lost, from the 48 they got in 2018. Voter turnout was 41%, a record low in the post-Saddam Hussein era signaling widespread distrust of the country’s leaders and the vote for a new parliament. That’s down from 44% in the 2018 elections, which was an all-time low. Still, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated the Iraqi people “for the way the elections took place.” He appealed for calm as the results are announced and for political discussions on the formation of a new government to be carried out in “an environment of peace, of security and of tranquility.” The weekend’s election was held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the vote was marred by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the same young activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces in late 2019, calling for sweeping reforms and new elections. Read:Polls open in Iraq's general elections amid tight security Tens of thousands of people protested in late 2019 and early 2020, and were met by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months. Although authorities gave in and called the early elections, the death toll and the heavy-handed crackdown — as well as a string of targeted assassinations and attempted killings — prompted many protesters to later call for a boycott of the vote. Many of the young activists who took part in the 2019 protests also raged against Iran’s heavy-handed influence in Iraqi politics, including armed militias who rival the state’s authority. Many blamed the militias for taking part with security forces in brutally suppressing the protests, possibly playing a role in Fatah’s poor showing. Al-Sadr, a black-turbaned nationalist leader, is also close to Iran, but publicly rejects its political influence. The election was the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many were skeptical that independent candidates from the protest movement stood a chance against well-entrenched parties and politicians, many of them backed by powerful armed militias. Preliminary results showed several independent candidates getting into parliament, although the number of seats was not immediately known. Read: Biden says US combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year end There was a marked reluctance among young Iraqis — the country’s largest demographic — to get out and vote. Many expressed views that the system is immune to reform and that the election would only bring back the same faces and parties responsible for the corruption and mismanagement that has plagued Iraq for decades. The problems have left the country with crumbling infrastructure, growing poverty and rising unemployment rates. Under Iraq’s laws, the party that wins the most seats gets to choose the country’s next prime minister, but it’s unlikely any of the competing coalitions can secure a clear majority. That will require a lengthy process involving backroom negotiations to select a consensus prime minister and agree on a new coalition government. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has played a key role as a mediator in the region’s crises, particularly between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. Many in the region and beyond will be watching to see if he will secure a second term. The new parliament will also elect Iraq’s next president.

Germany’s center-left Social Democrats won the biggest share of the vote in a national election Sunday, narrowly beating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s center-right Union bloc in a closely fought race that will determine who succeeds the long-time leader at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy. The Social Democrats’ candidate Olaf Scholz, the outgoing vice chancellor and finance minister who pulled his party out of a years-long slump, said the outcome was “a very clear mandate to ensure now that we put together a good, pragmatic government for Germany.” Despite getting its worst-ever result in a federal contest, the Union bloc said it too would reach out to smaller parties to discuss forming a government, while Merkel stays on in a caretaker role until a successor is sworn in. Election officials said early Monday that a count of all 299 constituencies showed the Social Democrats received 25.9% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for the Union bloc. No winning party in a German national election had previously taken less than 31% of the vote. Read: Germany urged to waive intellectual property rules for COVID19 vaccines Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state who outmaneuvered a more popular rival to secure the nomination of Merkel’s Union bloc, had struggled to motivate the party’s base and suffered a series of missteps. “Of course, this is a loss of votes that isn’t pretty,” Laschet said of results that looked set to undercut by some measure the Union’s previous worst showing of 31% in 1949. But he added that with Merkel departing after 16 years in power, “no one had an incumbent bonus in this election.” Laschet told supporters that “we will do everything we can to form a government under the Union’s leadership, because Germany now needs a coalition for the future that modernizes our country.” Both Laschet and Scholz will be courting the same two parties: the environmentalist Greens, who were third with 14.8%; and the pro-business Free Democrats, who took 11.5% of the vote. The Greens traditionally lean toward the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats toward the Union, but neither ruled out going the other way. The other option was a repeat of the outgoing “grand coalition” of the Union and Social Democrats that has run Germany for 12 of Merkel’s 16 years in power, but there was little obvious appetite for that after years of government squabbling. “Everyone thinks that ... this ‘grand coalition’ isn’t promising for the future, regardless of who is No. 1 and No. 2,” Laschet said. “We need a real new beginning.” Read: Bayern Munich, former West Germany great Gerd Müller dies The Free Democrats’ leader, Christian Lindner, appeared keen to govern, suggesting that his party and the Greens should make the first move. “About 75% of Germans didn’t vote for the next chancellor’s party,” Lindner said in a post-election debate with all parties’ leaders on public broadcaster ZDF. “So it might be advisable ... that the Greens and Free Democrats first speak to each other to structure everything that follows.” Baerbock insisted that “the climate crisis ... is the leading issue of the next government, and that is for us the basis for any talks ... even if we aren’t totally satisfied with our result.” While the Greens improved their support from the last election in 2017, they had higher expectations for Sunday’s vote. The Left Party was projected to win only 4.9% of the vote and risked being kicked out of parliament entirely. The far-right Alternative for Germany — which no one else wants to work with — received 10.3%. This was about 2 percentage points less than in 2017, when it first entered parliament. Due to Germany’s complicated electoral system, a full breakdown of the result by seats in parliament was still pending. Merkel, who has won plaudits for steering Germany through several major crises, won’t be an easy leader to follow. Her successor will have to oversee the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, which Germany so far has weathered relatively well thanks to large rescue programs. Germany’s leading parties have significant differences when it comes to taxation and tackling climate change. Foreign policy didn’t feature much in the campaign, although the Greens favor a tougher stance toward China and Russia. Whichever parties form the next German government, the Free Democrats’ Lindner said it was “good news” that it would have a majority with centrist parties. “All of those in Europe and beyond who were worried about Germany’s stability can now see: Germany will be stable in any case,” he said. Read:Germany to provide $68 billion in aid for flood-hit regions Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent early congratulations to Scholz. “Spain and Germany will continue to work together for a stronger Europe and for a fair and green recovery that leaves no one behind,” he wrote on Twitter. In two regional elections also held Sunday, the Social Democrats looked set to defend the post of Berlin mayor that they have held for two decades. The party was also on course for a strong win in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. For the first time since 1949, the Danish minority party SSW was set to win a seat in parliament, officials said.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced on Friday it has fixed Aug. 29 for key national elections to elect parliamentary and regional assemblies' representatives.