Bangladesh election: Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League sweeps, say unofficial results

Dhaka, Dec 30: There was no twist to the tale as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's Awami League swept Sunday's general elections in Bangladesh winning 259 out of 300 seats in the Jatiyo Sangshad (national parliament). These were, however, unofficial results reported by the local media and the Opposition alliance Jatiyo Oikyo Front (JOF), which was routed, rejected the results of the violence-hit polls and sought a new election.

The ruling party surged ahead within hours of the beginning of the counting and the JOF called a news conference on Sunday evening calling the election "farcical". The December 30 election was the 11thparliamentary election for the country which turned 47 this year and the results meant Hasina will continue to rule for her third straight five-year term.

"We reject the farcical election and want the election commission to hold a fresh election under a non-partisan administration," Kamal Hossain, an 82-year-old jurist who wrote the country's secular constitution, said.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance managed to win just six seats out of 300 up for grabs in a parliament having 350 members. Fifty seats are reserved for women. Former Bangladesh President Hussain Muhammad Ershad's Jatiya Party got 22 seats. The final results are likely to be announced by Bangladesh's election commission on Monday, December 31.

Seventeen people were killed in violence in Bangladesh on the election day.