Fakhrul meets US ambassador over ‘election irregularities’

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam has met US Ambassador Earl Robert Miller on Friday.

The meeting began at the ambassador’s Gulshan residence around 10am and lasted around an hour and half.

BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Executive Committee member Tabith Awal were present during the meeting.

The meeting comes five days after the 11th parliamentary election was held amid sporadic clashes and complaints of vote rigging and other irregularities.

Fakhrul did not brief reporters after the meeting and went to the BNP chairperson’s offices in Gulshan.

But BNP leaders told bdnews24.com that Fakhrul presented “information and evidence” concerning election irregularities before Ambassador Miller. 

The ruling Awami League secured a major victory in Sunday's polls. But the Jatiya Oikya Front, the alliance that includes the BNP, secured only seven seats.   

The Oikya Front rejected the result and demanded a fresh election under a neutral poll-time government. But Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda has ruled out the demands.

While the winners from the Awami League-led alliance were being sworn in to parliament on Thursday, newly-elected MPs from the BNP leaders stayed away from the ceremony, refusing to take oath of office. 

On Thursday, the candidates of the BNP and its allies submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission alleging that the people have been “betrayed” because up to 60 per cent ballot boxes across the country were stuffed on the eve of voting.