United News of Bangladesh

Vote counting is underway across the country after the completion of polling in a largely peaceful atmosphere, with high hopes of restoring genuine democracy and securing a strong mandate for national reforms. Polling started simultaneously at 7:30am in 299 parliamentary constituencies across the country and continued uninterrupted until 4:30pm on Thursday. Voters who were in queues at the closing time would be allowed to cast their ballots. Apart from a few isolated incidents, including crude bomb explosions in Munshiganj and Gopalganj districts, the overall voting process remained largely peaceful. During the election, four people died reportedly after falling sick at polling centres in Khulna, Manikganj, Dhaka and Chattogram . Some political parties also raised allegations of irregularities. Seven presiding officers were withdrawn in five districts for their alleged irregularities, according to reports landed at UNB desk from the districts. In a statement issued after voting ended, Chief Adviser congratulated and thanked the nation for the peaceful completion of the election and the referendum, according to the press wing of the Chief Adviser. “Voters’ spontaneous participation, the responsible conduct of political parties, the restraint shown by candidates and the professionalism of all institutions involved in the election have collectively demonstrated that our commitment to democracy remains firm. By exercising their constitutional rights,  people have played an active role in determining the country’s future,” Prof Yunus said. He extended special thanks to the Election Commission, the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, the civil administration, observer teams, media professionals and all officials and staff engaged in the voting process. Polling concludes in largely peaceful atmosphere across Bangladesh “Their dedication and hard work ensured the successful completion of this massive democratic exercise,” he added. The Chief Adviser also urged political parties and candidates to uphold democratic decorum, tolerance and mutual respect even after the announcement of the final results. According to Election Commission (EC) data, the voter turnout nationwide was 47.91 percent by 2:00pm, midway through the nine-hour balloting for the parliamentary election and referendum. “We’ve gathered data from 32,789 out of 42,651 polling stations. According to this data, voter turnout stands at 32.88 percent,” said EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed while briefing reporters at 1:10pm at the city’s Nirbachan Bhaban. Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus cast his vote at the Gulshan Model School and College centre in Dhaka. BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman voted at the same centre around 9:40am, while Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman cast his ballot at 8:15am at Monipur High School (Boys’ Branch). BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir voted at Thakurgaon Government Girls’ High School around 7:40am. The election in Sherpur-3 constituency was postponed due to the death of a contesting candidate. Voters cast ballots to choose 299 public representatives from a total of 2,028 candidates, including nominees of 50 political parties and independent contenders. A total of 127,298,522 voters in 299 constituencies were eligible to vote, comprising 64,620,077 male voters, 62,677,232 female voters, and 1,213 third-gender voters. The country’s total electorate across 300 constituencies is 127,711,899. Two major political parties—the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami—are contesting the election, seeking a public mandate to govern for the next five years. The ousted Awami League, however, is absent from the race this time, having boycotted the 15th February 1996 election after 30 years in the political arena. Of the 59 registered political parties, 50 are participating in the elections. Among the 2,028 candidates contesting from 299 constituencies, 1,755 were nominated by political parties, while 273 are independent candidates.

Vote counting in Jahangirnagar University (JU) Central Student Union (JUCSU) election concluded 42 hours after the end of balloting. Voting was scheduled to end at 5 pm on Thursday (Sept 11) at the Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall but due to long queues polling continued until 9 pm. The counting of votes finally ended at 2:40 pm. Informal results suggested that the panel backed by Islami Chhatra Shibir is leading in 21 out of 25 positions. Tight races are being reported for four key posts—Vice President (VP), Cultural Affairs Secretary, Sports Secretary and Social Welfare Secretary. Independent candidates are leading in three positions while Bagchas-backed candidate Ahsan Labib is ahead for Social Welfare Secretary. Independent candidate Abdur Rashid Jitu is leading the VP race by a margin of around 800 votes over Shibir-backed Arif Ullah while in the Cultural Secretary race, Jisan Ahmed Jisu is ahead of Shibir panel’s Ali Zaki Shahriar. In the race for Sports Secretary, independent candidate Mahmudul Hasan Kiran is leading against Shibir panel’s Shafiuzzaman Shaheen. Though the BNP-backed panel boycotted the election earlier, their nominated Assistant General Secretary (Women) candidate Anjuman Ara Ikra urged students to accept the results in the greater interest of the student body. JUCSU polls: Official results to be announced by 7pm today She came up with the urge in her facebook post on Friday night. In her post, she wrote, “Regardless of the outcome, we were committed to ensuring fair voting for the students. Despite open irregularities and rigging by the administration, we must accept this verdict for the sake of the students.” She further urged BNP student wing leaders to focus on their mistakes and moving forward. Vote counting of the election began on the night of September 11 after it ended amid allegations of ballot stuffing and administrative bias. A total of 11,743 students were eligible to cast their votes in the election, with turnout reaching around 67-68 percent. A total of eight full and partial panels contested this year’s JUCSU election, though several later pulled out of the race. The panels that boycotted the polls include the BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Sampritir Oikya, Swatantra Angikar Parishad, Songshoptak Parishad, and candidates from the Socialist Student Front. Some independent candidates also withdrew from the election. Among those who stayed in the race were the Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir-supported “Combined Students’ Alliance,” the “Student Unity Forum” backed by Ganatantrik Chhatra Sansad, and the independent “Students’ Sammilon” led by former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Abdur Rashid Jitu.

Vote counting finished in Fiji's general election Sunday but there was no clear winner, and various political parties are now negotiating to form a coalition government. The election had pitted two former coup leaders against each other. Sitiveni Rabuka, who led a coup back in 1987 and later served as an elected prime minister in the 1990s, emerged as the main challenger to Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who has held power for the past 16 years. Rabuka’s People’s Alliance Party and allies the National Federation Party won about 45% of the vote combined. Bainimarama's Fiji's First party, meanwhile, won about 43%. That has left both sides seeking to form a coalition with the Social Democrat Liberal Party. The liberal party's general secretary Lenaitasi Duru told media they were having meetings with both sides. “The first round of negotiations was done yesterday,” Duru said. "We are expecting more negotiations later this afternoon.” He said the party's priorities included Indigenous affairs and education. “Right now we’re sitting in the middle," Duru said. "We’re watching and waiting for what is on offer, then we’ll make the decision based on what’s best for the nation.” Earlier, on Friday, Rabuka's party and four others had said they were launching a nationwide petition because they had no faith in the integrity of election officials. Read more: Peru s presidential runoff election too close to call But an international group that monitored the election said Friday it did not observe any voting irregularities and the process was transparent and credible. The dispute had threatened to destabilize the Pacific nation’s fragile democracy, which has been marred by four military coups in the past 35 years. Rebekha Sharkie, an Australian lawmaker and co-chair of the 90-strong Multinational Observer Group, told reporters in Fiji they had unrestricted access to the election process and didn't observe any irregularities. She said the group had assessed that Fijians were able to vote freely. Rabuka’s concerns came after his party had been leading in preliminary results posted online after polls closed, but then the results app stopped working. Election officials said they’d found an anomaly in the system and needed to reload the results. When the next batch of results was posted, Bainimarama’s party was in front. Election officials later stopped their provisional count and switched to a final count. Bainimarama first seized the top job by force in 2006 and later refashioned himself as a democratic leader by introducing a new constitution and winning elections in 2014 and again in 2018. Fiji is known abroad as a tourist paradise that is dotted with pristine beaches and filled with friendly, relaxed people. Read more: Congress removes Peru's president amid political unrest However, the past few years have proved tough for many people in the nation of just under 1 million, after tourism evaporated when COVID-19 hit and the economy tanked. The World Bank estimates the nation’s poverty rate is about 24%.

More than two weeks after Election Day, The Associated Press has declared Joe Biden the winner of the presidential contest in Georgia, a longtime Republican state that the Democratic president-elect narrowly won by making major inroads in suburban areas that formerly favored the GOP.

Awami League mayoral candidates were unofficially declared elected in the elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) on Saturday.