False election suspension claims spread ahead of Bangladesh polls
Misleading claims about the suspension of polls attributed to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) are spreading on social media as Bangladesh prepares to hold its next national election.
Dismislab fact-checked these claims and found them baseless.
A post from an individual Facebook profile on February 7 said: “Alhamdulillah, the election has been postponed. Source in the comments.” Similar claims were then made from multiple individual profiles, groups, and pages on Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6 ,7,8).
The “source” links shared in the comments redirect to a February 7 post by local television channel Channel i, which says: “February 12 election will not be inclusive if the Awami League is excluded: CPD.” Channel i also shared a link to a detailed report in the comments.
According to the report, the next national election will not be inclusive, leaving the Awami League out. In a media briefing on “Green Sustainable Economy Trends and Expectations in Electoral Areas: Results of Candidate and Voter Survey” on Saturday (February 7), CPD said supporters and voters of the Awami League, currently banned from running political activities, could still significantly influence the election outcome.
CPD’s analysis of survey data indicated that questions may arise about the election’s acceptability if the opinions and participation of Awami League voters and supporters are not taken into account. CPD stressed that including all major parties and their voters is essential for a credible and participatory election.
A review of the Channel i report found that it does not mention election postponement. Dismislab also checked CPD’s website and found no statement claiming the election had been suspended. The media briefing was livestreamed on the organization’s verified Facebook page on February 7. Part of the caption reads, ‘CPD Media Briefing on “Green Sustainable Economy Trends and Expectations in Electoral Areas: Results of Candidate and Voter Survey”.
Several media outlets (1, 2, 3, 4) ran reports on the briefing. The report published by Prothom Alo on February 7 was titled, “It will be effectively a two-party election: Khondaker Golam Moazzem.” Part of the report reads, “Another journalist asked whether this election will be inclusive. In response, Moazzem said that recent surveys indicate that the votes of a deposed party (Awami League) are being considered as a ‘factor’ in this election. This means that a large segment of voters is unable to vote according to their preferences. Which means the freedom of voters to choose candidates is being limited to some extent, which is not entirely consistent with the concept of inclusive voting.”
In conclusion, the posts claiming that Bangladesh’s February 12 election has been suspended are false. They rely on a Channel i report about CPD comments on inclusivity, which does not say the polls have been postponed.
