The New Nation - Internet Edition

Army won’t be deployed during Upazila polls: EC to pursue pending cases against MPs: DCC election in March

Staff Reporter

The Election Commission has been taking full preparation for holding the upazila polls on January 22 and would start sending the election materials from January 12.

The Commission, however, will not deploy army during the upazila polls. "Additional police and BDR will be deployed during the upazila elections, not army," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said at a press briefing yesterday.

However, judicial magistrates would start going to field levels within a day or two for the important local-government elections, withheld for a long time by successive political governments.

Brig Sakhwat announced the Commission's plan to hold the overdue election to Dhaka City Corporation in March after completing the upcoming upazila polls on schedule.

The voter list will be updated before the DCC polls," the Commissioner said.

The Commission has also decided to take legal actions against the persons who carried ballot papers outside election centres and displayed those in public to create "controversy and anarchy".

The Commission has already sent a letter to the police department to take necessary steps to this effect.

Brig Sakhawat said that the Commission would investigate into the reported cases and take legal actions against the persons involved.

"It's a punishable offence. We're sending letters to police in this regard," he said about the cases of carrying and displaying ballot papers outside election booths.

"The police should have taken legal actions immediately. But as they did not do it the commission has sent a letter to the police headquarters," Sakhwat added.

Meanwhile, a former BNP lawmaker Engineer Manjurul Ahsan Munshi who is husband of a candidate Majeda Ahsan has been awarded seven years imprisonment for violating election rules.

The Commission is also serious about pursuing the cases pending with the High Court against the loan and bill defaulters who were elected members of Parliament in the December 29 general election.

The Commissioner informed that by-elections for the vacated constituencies would be held in February adding, "The election schedule in this regard will be announced in the last week of January."

The Election Commissioner urged all, including the newly elected members of Parliament, to abide by the electoral code of conduct during the parliamentary by-election on January 12 for Noakhali-1 seat.

"We urge the MPs not to visit Noakhali-1 constituency on the election day," he said.

Saying that the EC would not announce the result of the upazila polls like the parliamentary elections, Sakhawat informed that the returning officers concerned would announce the results.

Replying to a question, he said the upazila polls would be held with the existing voter list.

About the union prishad and municipal elections, Sakhawat said those elections would be held categorically on the basis of greater districts across the country, but the dates have not been fixed yet by the commission.

About post-election violence, he said until December 31, the whole situation under the Election Commission had been controlled and peaceful. But violence started breaking out from January 1. "The administration is to take proper steps in this regard," he said.

Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza: 20 civilians killed

Israeli troops launched a grouand offensive in Gaza
yesterday (left): Palestinian children flee as humanitarian
crisis deepens in Gaza Strip. Photo Agencies

AP, Gaza City

Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, bisecting the coastal territory and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas gained momentum.

Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light and bursts of machine gun fire rang out.

TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs ensuring their routes had not been booby-trapped.

The military said troops killed or wounded dozens of militant fighters, but Palestinian medical teams in Gaza, unable to move because of the fighting, could not provide accurate casualty figures.

Hamas said only four fighters had been killed. Gaza health officials said around 20 civilians had also died in airstrikes and shelling. They included a 12-year-old girl, five members of the same family and another eight civilians killed by a tank shell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

The new deaths brought the toll in the Gaza Strip since Saturday to more than 500. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.

Army ambulances were seen bringing Israeli wounded to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The military reported 30 Israeli troops were wounded, two seriously, in the opening hours of the offensive. In his first public comments since the ground operation was launched, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel could not allow its civilians to continue to be targeted by rockets from Gaza.

"This morning I can look every one you in the eyes and say the government did everything before deciding to go ahead with the operation," he said.

A senior military officer said Hamas was well-prepared for the Israeli incursion into Gaza, a densely populated territory of 1.4 million where militants operate and easily hide in the crowded urban landscape. He said the operation was "not a rapid one that would end in hours or a few days."

Still, he said, "We have no intention of staying in the Gaza Strip for the long term." He spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with army regulations.

Israel says the objective is to restore quiet to Israel's south, not to topple Hamas or reoccupy Gaza.

Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into a "graveyard" for Israeli forces.

"You entered like rats," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Israeli soldiers in a statement on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV. "Gaza will be a graveyard for you, God willing."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday denounced the ground offensive as "brutal aggression," his harshest words yet in describing the assault on his Hamas rivals. Abbas said the situation has become unbearable and that "national unity is the most important thing to us."

His offer to start talks on sharing power still stands, Abbas said, though Hamas last week ignored the invitation.

The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population.

Rocket fire has persisted, however, and several rockets fell in Israel on Sunday morning, causing no casualties. In much of southern Israel school has been canceled and life has been largely paralyzed.

While the air offensive presented little risk for Israel's army, sending in ground troops is a much more dangerous proposition. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunman who know the dense urban landscape intimately. For months, Israeli leaders had resisted a ground invasion, fearing heavy casualties.

Israel also has called up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, which defense officials said could enable a far broader ground offensive as the operation's third phase. The troops could also be used in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon decide to launch attacks. Hezbollah opened a war against Israel in 2006 when it was in the midst of a large operation in Gaza.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the military's preparations are classified.

An armored force south of Gaza City penetrated as deep as the abandoned settlement of Netzarim, which Israel left along with other Israeli communities when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005, both military officials and Palestinian witnesses said.

That move effectively cut off Gaza City, the territory's largest population center with about 400,000 people, from the rest of the territory to the south.

The offensive focused on northern Gaza, where most of the rockets are fired into Israel, but at least one incursion was reported in the southern part of the strip. Hamas uses smuggling tunnels along the southern border with Egypt to bring in weapons.

Ground forces had not entered major Gaza towns and cities by Sunday morning, instead fighting in rural communities and open areas militants often use to launch rockets and mortar rounds. Militants also fire from heavily populated neighborhoods.

Beit Lahiya was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting. An artillery shell killed eight civilians there as they were fleeing their homes to seek refuge at a nearby school, according to paramedics and Dr. Said Judeh, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in town.

The home of a farmer in the Beit Lahiya area was hit twice by artillery, killing a five members of one family, Judeh said.

An airstrike hit an ambulance and three medics were reported in critical condition, officials said.

Residents of the small northern Gaza community of al-Attatra said soldiers moved from house to house by blowing holes through walls. Most of the houses were unoccupied, their residents already having fled.

Hamas militants fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades. Field commanders communicated over walkie talkies, updating gunmen on the location of Israeli forces. Commanders told gunmen in the streets not to gather in groups and not to use cell phones.

Israel launched the air campaign against Gaza on Dec. 27 with the aim of halting militant rocket attacks on its south. The operation appears to have slowed, but not halted the rocket fire. Israeli police said 13 rockets landed Sunday, lightly wounding one person.

Hundreds of rockets have hit Israel so far, and four Israelis have been killed. Warning sirens give residents notice of incoming militant rockets and allow them to take cover.

The decision to send ground troops into Gaza was taken after Hamas kept up its rocket fire despite the aerial assault, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions leading up to wartime decisions are confidential.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment" to Olmert and called for an immediate end to the operation, according to a U.N. statement Sunday.

Denunciations also came from the French government, which unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce earlier this week, and from Egypt, which brokered the six-month truce whose breakdown preceded the Israeli offensive.

But the U.S. has put the blame squarely on Hamas. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. officials have been in regular contact with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in the region and Europe.

At an emergency consultation of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday night, the U.S. blocked approval of a statement demanded by Arab countries that would have called for an immediate cease-fire. U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the U.S. believed that such a statement "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, (and) would not do credit to the council."

Hamas began to emerge as Gaza's main power broker when it won Palestinian parliamentary elections three years ago. It has ruled the impoverished territory since seizing control from forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007.

Hasina visits Zillur residence

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina exchanging
greetings with the party's senior leader Zillur Rahman by
presenting a bouquet at his Ivy Concord residence at Gulshan
in the city on Sunday. FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) president Sheikh Hasina yesterday visited AL presidium member Zillur Rahman at his Gulshan residence to express gratitude and respect to him for running the party efficiently during the post-January 11, 2007 political crisis.

Sheikh Hasina, accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, carried flowers and sweets for veteran AL leader Zillur Rahman while Zillur's daughter Moina greeted them in the lobby outside their apartment at Ivy Concord.

Talking to reporters Hasina's Private Secretary Dr. Awlad said, "It was simply Sheikh Hasina's personal visit to Zillur Rahman and his family. There was no discussion on political issues during the meeting," he added.

Soon after the meeting with Zillur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina was asked by the waiting reporters about the size of her cabinet and the persons to be inducted into it. Then Hasina said, "I will not tell you anything now. It will be a surprise for all."

Earlier on Saturday, the AL parliamentary party meeting elected Hasina leader of the parliament and Zillur Rahman, her deputy.

Hasina said in a post-meeting press briefing, "Though elected a deputy leader in the parliament, Zillur Rahman will be elected president when the time is ripe."

Elderly woman killed as post-poll clashes continue

Staff Reporter

At least one person was killed and 20 people were injured yesterday in post-election clashes between the supporters of Awami League (AL) and BNP across the country.

Subhashini Das, 85, mother of BNP leader Nityalal Das, died from beating injuries at Kuliarchar Health Complex in Kishoreganj yesterday evening. Subhashini and some of her family members were beaten by the political opponents of Nityalal after the election.

Nityalal, who was also seriously injured in the attack, admitted to Bhagalpur Zohurul Islam Medical College Hospital from where he was shifted to Dhaka Apollo Hospital in the capital.

The same group of attackers later also ransacked the houses of BNP leaders Anil Chandra and Shahed Member and beat them up.

A tense situation was prevailing in and around Shahjalal University of Science & Technology in Sylhet yesterday as the two factions of BCL, student wing of Awami League, were engaged in a series of clashes to establish supremacy on the campus.

Pappu of Arif-Moloy group was mercilessly beaten up by the activists of rival Soumitra-Asad group .He was admitted to Osmany Medical College Hospital.

The clash made the general students panicky and they are apprehending postponement of their examinations.

Police seized lethal weapons from the activists of both groups and the trouble mongers were evicted from the campus.

At least eight leaders and activists of Jubo Dal and JCD were injured when cadres of Jubo League and BCL Chhatra League (BCL) activists ransacked upazila BNP office at Muladi upazila in Barisal.

Witnesses said a group of BCL activists brought out victory procession from Muladi College and attacked upazila BNP office at about 11:00 am on Saturday morning.

The attackers damaged furniture of the office and critically injured JCD activists Bony Amin Khan. Bony was given treatment at a local hospital.

Rizvi Ahmed, BNP office secretary, alleged at a press briefing at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office in the capital yesterday that Awami League activists are harassing BNP leaders and activists and their family members across the country after the parliamentary polls.

4-party to decide on oath-taking Wednesday

Staff Reporter

The BNP led four-party alliance MPs elect did not take oath on the scheduled day yesterday.

However, some influential leaders of the alliance hinted that a decision might be taken on Tuesday on oath matters.

They also made it clear that the newly elected MPs of the four-party alliance will take oath soon and join the parliament to play a constructive opposition role.

They pointed out that said that BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has the discretionary power to finalise the exact date of taking oath.

Former parliamentary affairs adviser to BNP chairperson Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury yesterday said the decision on taking oath would be taken on Tuesday after consulting with the elected MPs.

"Most of our MPs are now outside the capital. They would be reaching the capital within a couple of days," he told a press briefing in the capital yesterday.

He said necessary reforms would be carried out in the party after assessing the humiliating defeat of the candidates of the 4-party alliance in the just concluded national polls.

Though the MPs of the four-party alliance did not take oath yesterday, the leaders of the alliance have expressed their intention to join the parliament for consolidation of democracy and making the parliament effective and dynamic.

"The leader of the four-party alliance, Begum Khaleda Zia, would take decision regarding the matter," BNP secretary general Khandker Delwar told journalists at his NAM flat yesterday.

Asked when the MPs of the alliance would take oath, he said, " So far we have not taken any decision. The people of the country would see when we will go to the parliament for taking oath".

"So far there has been no party decision on whether the newly-elected 27 MPs of BNP would take oath," Rizvi Ahmed, office secretary of the party told the media after meeting with his party's secretary general at his NAM flat yesterday.

"We have not made any decision as yet. The media will be informed as soon as we have it," he mentioned.

When contacted assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami Mohammad Qamaruzzaman told the New Nation that two elected MPs of Jamaat would take oath after consultation with BNP chairperson.

Andalib Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) said, "Our alliance leader Khaleda Zia will decide when we should do that."

Meanwhile the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangshad Barrister Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar told newsmen yesterday that he cannot administer oath to office of the newly-elected MPs of the BNP led four-party alliance because of constitutional limitation.

"I cannot administer oath to the BNP and Jamaat MPs because of the constitutional limitations," he told the journalists yesterday at his office after administering oath to some lawmakers.

The 32 MPs of four-party alliance did not turn up at the Parliament Bhaban to take oath yesterday though they were scheduled to do it.

Asked when the four-party MPs would take oath, the outgoing Speaker of the Jatiya Sangshad, said lawmakers elected from BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party will have to be sworn in by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) within the next three working days.

"If they fail to have their oath administered by the CEC, then they must be sworn in by the new Speaker within the next 90 days," he added.

Barrister Sarcar said, " Article 148 of the constitution stipulates that the newly elected MPs must take oath from the Speaker within three days since the publication of the gazette".

He said that if the MPs of the four-party alliance do not take oath from the Speaker within the deadline after publication of the gazette then they must take oath form the CEC.

"If they do not take oath from the Speaker within three days since publication of the gazette, they will have to take oath from the chief election commissioner," he mentioned.

"If they come to me after three days, I cannot administer oath owing to constitutional limitations," he added.

"Had they failed to take oath from the chief election commissioner, they must take oath within next 90 days after the expiry of the time limit set for the chief election commissioner as per article 166 of the constitution," he said.

The official gazette of the ninth parliamentary polls was announced on Thursday night. Earlier MPs of Awami League led grand- alliance have taken their oath on Saturday.

Col (Retd) Oil Ahmad (Liberal Democratic Party), Ranajit Kumar Roy (Awami League), Md Kobirul Hoque (Independent, Narail-1), Khondoker Abdul Baten (Independent, Tangail-6) and Mohammad Fazlul Azim (Independent, Noakhali-6), were among the five lawmakers who took oath yesterday.

Pranab due in mid-January

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in the middle of January, foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said on Sunday.

"The itinerary of the Indian foreign minister's visit, however, will be drawn by the next government," said Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury to bdnews24.com.

Foreign ministry officials say the senior Indian minister will officially convey his government's greetings to the Awami League president Sheikh Hasina and her nascent government.

The ninth parliamentary elections held on Dec. 29 saw Awami League emerge winner with a staggering 230 of the 299 parliament seats. Its grand alliance allies-Jatiya Party, JSD and WPB-got 27, three and two seats, bringing the grand alliance total to 262.

On the other hand, the BNP-led four-party alliance secured 32 seats.

The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and ruling Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi have already greeted Hasina and AL on their polls victory.

Pakistan high commissioner in Dhaka Alamgir Muhammad Babar conveyed the greetings from Pakistan president and prime minister to Hasina and her party.

Defamation case filed against Rizvi

Court Correspondent

A defamation case was filed yesterday with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. CMM Court of Dhaka against Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Office Secretary of BNP for making a false statement ignoring the landslide victory of the Grand Alliance in the last parliamentary election.

Zahidul Islam Tipu, General Secretary of Motijheel Thana Awami League sued Rizvi under sections 500 and 501 of the Penal Code while Metropolitan Magistrate Dr Abdul Majid accepted the case and directed the OC of Gulshan Thana in the capital to submit a report after enquiry into the matter.

Complainant Tipu accused the BNP Office Secretary Rizvi of making false statement on last January 1, at BNP Chairperson's office about alleged 'digital' rigging in the last election which led to the vicotry of the Grand Alliance. The statement published in the Daily Judgantor came to the notice of innumerable readers including leaders of all political parties.

Advocate AKM Shahnewaj moved the case on behalf of the complainant.

Another case against Hasina disposed of as baseless

UNB, Dhaka

Police yesterday submitted final report in an extortion case filed by businessman Tajul Islam Farooq against Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, disposing of the charge as "false" and "baseless".

The police of Tejgaon thana submitted the final report to the CMM court of Magistrate Tania Kamal in the evening after 19 months' investigation. "After investigation no basis or evidence was found in the case," says the report.

The Tk 3-crore extortion case was filed with the police station on April 9, 2008 against Hasina and his personal assistant Manu Majumdar when a crackdown on the political arena was on following the January 11, 2007 changeover.

In the case it was alleged that Manu handed over

the money in a brief case to Hasina at Ganobhaban when she was prime minister.

This was the first of the extortion and graft cases filed against her during the drive.

However, Tajul Islam at a press conference on December 24 confessed that he had to file the case 'under pressure' in the changed situation.

All set for swearing in new govt tomorrow

Staff Reporter

The new government led by Awami League president Sheikh Hasina is expected to take oath on Tuesday.

Sources said, the swearing in of the newly elected Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet will take place at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban at 6:30pm.

Prime Minister-in-waiting Sheikh Hasina and the members of her Cabinet will be sworn in by President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed

The Cabinet Division has already completed all preparations in this regard. After a Secretary-level meeting, Cabinet Secretary MA Aziz said invitation is being distributed according to norms. The invitation cards for the newly elected MPs have been sent to the Parliament Secretariat.

However, those who did not get the invitation cards have been requested to collect the cards from Deputy Secretary (Admin) of the Parliament Secretariat M Mostafizur Rahman.

The Cabinet Secretary said, for the first time invitation is not being distributed to anti-liberation war elements. A total of 50 cars have been kept ready for the ministers-in-waiting, but no list of cabinet members reached to the transport poll till yesterday.

Meanwhile, a rehearsal of advance preparation for the Tuesday's oath taking ceremony was held at Bangabhaban yesterday.

Sheikh Hasina will form her new government for a second time in seven years following securing a landslide victory in the December 29 parliamentary elections. Earlier, the Awami League President had ruled the county as Prime Minister in the 1996-2001 tenure.