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