B'desh ex-PM Hasina, family members barred from casting votes in Feb elections

Dhaka, Sep 18 (IANS) Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several of her family members will be barred from voting in next year's election as their National Identity (NID) Cards are blocked, local media reported.

Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Wednesday told the reporters that "anyone whose NID card has been locked cannot vote from abroad. Those who fled abroad due to cases or for other reasons face no obstacle in voting, but their NID must remain unlocked."

"To vote from abroad, one must register online using their NID number. A passport will not work. So if someone's NID is locked, how can they register? They cannot. Only those who register with their NIDs will get this opportunity," Bangladesh's leading newspaper, The Business Standard, quoted the EC official as saying.

When asked whether Hasina will be able to vote, he said, "She cannot vote because her NID is blocked."

In April, the National Identity Registration Wing under the EC "locked" the NID of Hasina and her nine family members following a verbal instruction from its Director General, ASM Humayn Kabir.

The family members include Sheikh Rehana Siddique, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Saima Wazed, Shahnaz Siddique, Bushra Siddique, Tulip Rizwana Siddique, Azmira Siddique, Radwan Mujib Siddique, and Tarique Ahmed Siddique.

Earlier in July, the EC removed the election symbol of Hasina's Awami League party from its website in an attempt to end the party's decades-long political existence in the country, according to local media reports.

On May 12, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government issued a gazette notification banning all activities of the Awami League and its affiliate organisations.

The ban was imposed under the "Anti-Terrorism Act" until the trial of the party and its leaders in Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is completed.

Analysts reckon the latest developments as an extension of the political vendetta pursued by the interim government led by Yunus against former PM Hasina and her family members, with a larger plan of keeping the Awami League away from taking part in the national elections.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country. The interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.

--IANS

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