CEC unhappy at low turnout, 'MP influence'............

The chief election commissioner has said he is unhappy about the low voter turnout and 'attempts by ministers and MPs' to influence the third Upazila Parishad election on Thursday.

There were also influences of political parties in the balloting to elect local government representatives to 481 Upazila across the country, ATM Shamsul Huda said to reporters at his office.

"We'd expected that the election being held after 18 years would reflect the people's will and will re-establish Upazila Parishad. But [after the end of the elections] we've some dissatisfactions," he said.

"The voter turnout was lower than our expectation. The reason behind the low attendance of young and women voters in the Upazila elections compared to their turnout in the general election will be investigated," he said.

He said the ruling party had always influenced in the election. "We wanted to hold the election during the tenure of the caretaker government. But that was not possible."

"A number of ministers and MPs have tried to exert their influence on the voting process in some places and we've halted the voting in those upazilas."

"We were expecting that there would be some changes in the country's political culture. But we didn't expect that the ministers will abuse power."

The Election Commission will discuss with the government how the political influence on the election can be curbed, he said.

The EC postponed voting at Belkuchi of Sirajganj district, Barura of Comilla district, Ramganj in Lakshmipur, Sadar Upazila of Brahmanbaria and Ukhia of Cox's Bazar districts.

Voting in those Upazila has been postponed on charges of barring the voters from going to polling stations, snatching of ballot papers and forcefully occupying polling stations, the polls chief said.

He said balloting in Belkuchi and Ukhia has been postponed on charges that one minister, Abdul Latif Biswas, and one MP, Badiur Rahman Badi, tried to influence polling in their respective Upazila.

Huda, however, said there was no information of heavy violence anywhere and the voter turnout was like in the two previous Upazila elections.

If the turnout had reached 50 percent, then it would have been satisfactory, he said.

Meanwhile, after visiting a number of polling stations in Gazipur district, election commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain said the voting was peaceful but the voter turnout was not satisfactory.

Sakhawat said Awami League leaders and supporters created unwanted incidents at some polling stations, which was not expected.

Whether he was satisfied with Thursday's election, he said, "I'm not dissatisfied at all, but we'd a lot of expectation."

Voting took place in 32,381 polling stations of 480 Upazila from 8am to 4pm without break.

According to the EC, 8,187 candidates contested countrywide in the polls, for the three positions in each upazila. Of the total, 13 candidates have already been elected uncontested.

The third Upazila polls were held after some 18 years.

Former president General Hussain Muhammad Ershad introduced the Upazila system. Elections to the local government bodies were first held in 1985 and then again in 1990.

After the fall of Ershad, then the BNP government repealed the Upazila Parishad Ordinance in 1991.