In the first phase of upazila parishad elections, voting was held in 139 upazilas on Wednesday (May 8). Among them, Awami League leaders have been elected as Chairman in 49 upazilas. Nine of them are relatives of MPs.

Although there are organizational instructions of the ruling Awami League, the relatives of the local parliamentarians have been elected to the Chairman posts in 13 upazilas, ignoring those instructions. Among them, 9 people were elected and two were defeated in 11 upazilas. One already won unopposed.

Atahar Ishrak Shabab Chowdhury, son of Mohammad Ekramul Karim Chowdhury, Member of Parliament of Noakhali-4 (Sadar and Subarnachar) Constituency, has been elected Chairman in Noakhali's Subarnachar. He was a candidate against District Awami League president and three-time chairman of Subarnachar Upazila Parishad, AHM Khairul Anam Chowdhury.

Ashiq Ali, the elder son of the local MP Mohammad Ali, has won the seat of Noakhali.

SM Noore Alam Shaheen has become the Chairman in Nazirpur of Pirojpur. He is the brother of MP SM Rezaul Karim of Pirojpur-1 Constituency.

Madaripur Sadar Upazila MP Shajahan Khan's elder son Asibur Rahman Khan has been elected to the post of Chairman.

The current Chairman Ataur Rahman Ata has become the chairman in Kushtia Sadar Upazila. He is the cousin of Awami League Joint General Secretary and Kushtia Sadar Constituency MP Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif.

Son and younger brother of Sahadara Mannan, Member of Parliament of the ruling party of Bogra-1 Constituency and executive member of the Central Mahila League, have been elected as Chairman in two upazilas of Bogra. Son Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain was elected in Sariakandi and younger brother Minhaduzzaman in Sonatala.

Safiqul Islam, uncle of Parliamentarian Mazharul Islam of Thakurgaon-2 Constituency has been elected Chairman in Baliadangi Upazila.

Vishwa Pradeep Karbari has been elected Chairman of Ramgarh in Khagrachari. He is the son-in-law of Awami League MP Kujendra Lal Tripura.

Harunur Rashid was defeated in Tangail's Dhanbari. He is the cousin of local MP Abdur Razzak. Shoeb Ahmed, nephew of local MP Shahab Uddin, was defeated in Baralekha of Moulvibazar.

Ambassador of Turkey Ramis Sen said that he wants to take the bilateral trade with Bangladesh to two billion dollars.

The Turkish Ambassador said this during a courtesy meeting with Chattogram City Mayor Bir Muktijoddha Md. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury.

Mayor Rezaul said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has made huge investments to exploit the commercial potential of Chattogram. Chattogram City Corporation is implementing a project worth two and a half thousand crores to improve the communication infrastructure of the city.

Apart from this, several projects have been taken to alleviate the water logging of the city. As a result, Chattogram has become an ideal place for foreign investment. Turkey can capitalize on this golden opportunity with massive investment.

In response, Ambassador Ramis Sen said, 50 years of bilateral relations between Turkey and Bangladesh are going to be completed. In the last half century, Turkey was always by Bangladesh's side. However, the depth of Bangladesh's relationship with Turkey is not properly reflected in bilateral trade. Therefore, Turkey aims to take the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Turkey to two billion dollars in a short period of time. Bangladesh is ahead of Turkey in terms of import and export.

Currently, Bangladesh's trade with Turkey is mainly centered on the textile sector. Turkey exports textile sector machinery and chemicals to Bangladesh. On the other hand, Turkey imports garments from Bangladesh. Turkey wants to diversify the bilateral trade without limiting it to the textile sector.

Highlighting the success of Turkey's health sector, the Ambassador said that Turkey is currently one of the top five medical tourism destinations in the world. Tourists from various European countries visit Turkey for medical treatment during summer because Turkey's health sector is capable of treating various complex and rare diseases. The number of tourists in Turkey decreased slightly during the Covid period, but last year the number increased again and crossed 50 million.

Stating that Turkey is also advancing in the military sector, the Ambassador said that in February, Turkey flew its own 5th generation stealth fighter Kan, which is an indication of Turkey's deep military power. In addition, Turkey has impressed the world by developing drones and various military technologies. Turkey is sharing its acquired knowledge with Bangladesh and will continue to do so in the future.

Turkish Rear Admiral Mustafa Kaya, Colonel Erdal Shahin, Chief Executive Officer of CCC Sheikh Muhammad Tauhidul Islam, Honorary Consul General of Turkey in Bangladesh Salahuddin Kashem Khan were also present in the meeting. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called on the UK to help the forcibly displaced Rohingya repatriate to their homeland Myanmar.

She said this during a courtesy call on UK Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Affairs Anne-Marie Trevelyan at Ganobhaban on Wednesday (May 8) afternoon.

The Prime Minister said that the number of Rohingyas is increasing day by day which has become a burden for Bangladesh.

When the United Kingdom's Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Trevelyan raised the issues of education, training and employment for the Rohingyas in the Cox's Bazar camp, Sheikh Hasina said, the camp is overcrowded. So it is impossible to ensure these facilities in the camp. However, she said, the government has built a house with all facilities for the Rohingyas in Bhasanchar Island.

Facilities in Bhasanchar include housing, healthcare services and employment opportunities, she said.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh urged Britain to invest more in Bangladesh. She said that she offered Britain a place in the special economic zone established in Bangladesh for direct investment for mutual benefit.

Bangladesh may sign a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) with Britain to bring back illegal Bangladeshi migrants to Britain.

Sheikh Hasina said, we want no one to go abroad illegally. For this purpose we have declared zero tolerance.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that 30 to 40 percent votes were cast in 139 upazilas in the first phase of the sixth upazila parishad elections.

He told this information to the media men in the election building on Wednesday (May 8) afternoon.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that the first phase of the election was held today in 139 upazilas. According to the information we have received from various sources, the elections have been fairly free, fair and peaceful. A few sporadic incidents have occurred. Some clashes have resulted in some injuries. There have been limited irregularities in a few centers. We have taken immediate action polling has been suspended in two centers.

The CEC said the administration, police, law and order enforcement forces were alert enough. They were quite diligent in their duties. They performed their duties with professionalism. Because of that the situation was good enough. According to the information received from our control room, 34 incidents have occurred. 25 people were injured and 37 people were arrested. These incidents happened outside the polling station.

Regarding low voter turnout at polling stations, the CEC said voter turnout could be between 30 and 40 percent. Polling rate may be low due to morning rain and paddy harvesting season. I learned that the voters did not come to the polling station as they were harvesting paddy. In addition, stormy rain has occurred in some places.

He also said that more voters in this election would have been better. But we count who got more votes. My point is to see whether the voting was done, whether the voters were able to come, whether they were able to vote, whether there was any irregularity anywhere. We have done our duty.

Regarding low voter turnout, he said, maybe the turnout was low due to monsoon season, paddy harvesting.