Bangladesh ruling coalition wins a by-election

UNCLAS DHAKA 004334 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL BG BGD SUBJECT: Bangladesh ruling coalition wins a by-election ¶1. (U) On August 30, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate, Shah Abu Zafar, won a parliamentary by- election in a traditional Awami League constituency, defeating rival Mufti Sharafat Hossain of Islamic Unity Council (IOJ). Out of more than 323,000 voters, less than half voted. BNP's Zafar received 96,800 votes while Muftil Sharafat Hossain received 51,000. ¶2. (U) In June, the sitting MP, Kazi Sirajul Islam, switched his allegiance from the Awami League to the BNP party. Under the Bangladesh constitution, he is barred from serving as MP, necessitating the by-election. The AL boycotted this by-election in Faridpur, located 60 kilometers from Dhaka, as it has in several other constituencies. ¶3. (SBU) Country wide, IOJ has only 4 seats out of total 300 in Parliament, and would not be expected to receive such a large number of votes. Sources told Embassy, however, that the AL had asked its supporters to vote for Sharafat Hossain. Ahkataruzzaman Akhtar, AL Organizing Secretary, refused to acknowledge direct AL support for IOJ, saying that many AL supporters, lacking an AL candidate but wanting to vote, may have voted for the IOJ as the only suitable alternative to voting for a BNP candidate. CHAMMAS