DHAKA: Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, thanked the voters who came out to vote in spite of attacks taking a stand for democracy against fundamentalism and terrorism.

He also thanked all Awami League leaders and activists saying that it had been a tremendous struggle in the face of terror.

Joy, the information and technology adviser to the premier, gave the thanks through his facebook status update at around 1:00am Monday.
    
The post reads as below--


“I would like to thank the voters who came out to vote in spite of this. You have taken a stand for democracy against fundamentalism and terrorism.

Media is reporting that overall voter turnout so far is about 40% and rising. In two whole districts, comprised of 4-5 Parliamentary constituencies, voter turnout was 51%. In Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s home district of Gopalganj voter turnout was 96%. We don’t have final official numbers as vote count is ongoing, but centers with greater number of votes cast take longer to tally so those results come in later. Thus the voter turnout count continues to rise. The average voter turnout for all national elections in Bangladesh is under 60%.

The BNP-Jamaat have continued their attacks non-stop. They have set fire to several polling centers and innocent civilians. They beat one election officer to death and smashed another’s hands. They’ve stabbed and attacked some of our party’s election workers and several voters after they voted.

Fortunately, the Government was able to prevent violence in most places. Only 160 or so polling centers were affected out of 18,000, about 0.8%. Approximately 10,000 domestic polling observers, several South Asian poll observers, 20 or so TV channels and innumerable newspapers have monitored these polls. No voting irregularities have been reported.

Voter turnout was slow early in the day because of fear of attacks. I have no doubt that if the BNP-Jamaat had not continued their terror attacks voter turnout would cross 50%.

I would like to thank the voters who came out to vote in spite of this. You have taken a stand for democracy against fundamentalism and terrorism.

I would also like to thank all Awami League leaders and activists. It has been a tremendous struggle in the face of terror.

Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu,
Joy Bangladesh Awami League!.”

BDST: 0858 HRS, JAN 06, 2014
Edited by: Rubaiat Saky, Senior Newsroom Editor