Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair raised concerns on Friday, alleging that certain Election Commission officials were intentionally delaying the release of results in various constituencies. Zubair expressed disappointment at the prolonged delay in announcing the election and referendum results, highlighting the unusual hold-up by Commission staff during the counting process.
As the head of the party’s central publicity wing, Zubair stated that agents representing Jamaat’s top leaders had submitted signed result sheets, expecting timely announcements between 8:00pm and 9:00pm. However, he claimed that these results were inexplicably pending, without any clarification provided.
Zubair specifically pointed out irregularities in Dhaka-17, where he alleged that signed result sheets had been tampered with by the returning officer. He cited instances of overwriting on eight sheets and a reduction of around 5,000 votes to favor a particular party, noting that Jamaat’s agents were hindered from raising objections.
Bringing attention to Dhaka-15, a constituency with over 300,000 voters across 129 polling centers, Zubair criticized the withholding of its results despite quicker declarations in larger constituencies. He asserted that the delays seemed biased towards a specific party and affected candidates from an 11-party alliance.
Zubair denounced what he perceived as a nationwide conspiracy to manipulate election outcomes and warned of forthcoming movements by Jamaat against those accountable. Accusing the Election Commission of exhibiting “authoritarian behavior” instead of impartiality, Zubair affirmed his party’s stance to resist conspiracies and stand alongside the people.
Despite attempts to reach the Election Commission for comment, no immediate response was received.