Daily Star: Special Law Enforcement Drive

According to a Daily Star article (source), law enforcement agencies will be arresting "outlaws of different parties and groups in 10 southwestern districts."

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies took the decision to arrest the criminals in order to ensure fair election polls "free from the influence of underground politics."

Police sources indicated that some leaders "of major political parties" are directly involved with various criminal groups, including the outlawed parties, in order to establish their political supremacy in the area through vote rigging.

Most of the top criminals are from a variety of outlawed parties and crminal groups including: four factions of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), Marxist-Leninist, Janajuddho, Red Flag, and Communist War, the Biplobi Communist Party, New Biplobi Communist Party, Gono Bahini, Gono Mukti Fouz, Banglar Communist Party, Socialist Party, Biplobi Anurag, Chinnamul Communist Party, and the Sarbahara People's March.
According to the sources 845 of the listed cadres are from Khulna, 434 from Jhenidah, 363 from Bagerhat, 360 from Kushtia, 284 from Jessore, 225 from Satkhira, 210 from Chuadanga, 47 each from Meherpur and Narail, and 32 from Magura.

Police sources intimated that a number of "outlaws and criminals" have returned to their localities and are trying to regroup under the shelter of their "political godfathers" ahead of nationwide polls scheduled for 18 December.

Results of the 4 August 2008 Local Elections (1)

The Awami League (AL) won a major victory in the 4 August 2008 city coporation and poursava polls held in what was a dry-run of new electoral processes prior to the 18 December National polls.

The AL won the mayoral post in all four city corporation (CC) elections and 8 of 9 poursava municipal elections.

The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) won only 1 of the 9 poursava municipal elections. However, the BNP did not officially take part in this election.

In Khulna CC the official AL candidate received 51.12% of the vote while the now-former acting mayor, a BNP affliate, received 42.75%.

In the closely fought race in Barisal CC the official AL candidate received 32.51% of the vote while his rival, from the newly floated Progressive Democratic Party, received 32.10%.

The former mayor of Barisal, a BNP-affliated candidate, received 18.35%.

In Rajshahi CC, the AL candidate took 47.06% of the vote while the city's Jubo Dal president (the youth wing of the BNP) took 35.67%.

Finally in Sylhet CC, the AL candidate recieved 61.86% of the votes. While a BNP-affliated candidate, campaigning under the Sammilita Nagorik Committee, received 17.20% of the vote.

In the Poursava elections - the Awami League won small margins in Phulbaria (Mymensingh district) and Golabganj (Sylhet district) with margins of 283 and 1,946 votes respectively. In Shariatpur Sadar (Dhaka) and Manikganj Sadar (Dhaka) the AL received margins of 2,148 and 3,061 votes respectively. The AL won wider victories in Chuadanga Sadar (Khulna), Naohata/Paba (Rajshahi) and Sitakundu (Chittagong) by margins of 7,097, 7,853 and 7,958 votes respectively. The AL's biggest victory came in Sreepur (Gazipur) where the AL candidate beat the leading BNP-affliated candidate by a margin of 10,135 votes.

In its victory the BNP carried Dupchanchia (Bogra) by a margin of 2,209 votes.