Engineering took place at every stage of the election: Porwar

Engineering took place at every stage of the 13th national election, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said today (6 March). 

“Engineering was done in vote counting, in the results and in their publication,” he said at a rally after Jummah prayers at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the capital, ahead of a protest procession organised by the party, demanding the arrest and questioning of former adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and current Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman.

“We had expected to secure 160 seats through the people’s votes. But it was planned to keep it below 100. A mechanism was created during vote counting, and votes were tampered with,” Porwar alleged.

Referring to Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, Porwar alleged that he received the minister post from the BNP as a “reward” for his “service” while serving in the interim government.

Porwar said, “You [Khalilur] made some efforts at the time, and that is why you have now received the post of foreign minister. The government has been very satisfied with your service. We have never seen such a precedent under any non-partisan government before. There must certainly be some mystery behind this affection.”

He also demanded a fair trial over alleged election fraud.

“No propaganda has been able to stop Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Those involved in election engineering should be brought forward. I would ask the judiciary to conduct a proper investigation,” he said.