Bangladesh ruling party suffers blow in local elections

Bangladesh ruling Awami League suffered a blow in the first phase of local elections on Wednesday.

In the local government polls involving 97 subdistricts, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)- backed candidates won 43 chairman posts while those loyal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's AL bagged 33.

Candidates backed by BNP's key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party won 12 chairman posts, Election Commission spokesman S.M. Asaduzzaman told Xinhua Thursday.

BNP, which has no representation in the current parliament as it boycotted the Jan. 5 parliament elections, took the local elections seriously, so did the AL that enjoys a three-fourths majority in parliament.

Ruling party leaders say more than one AL candidates ran for the elections in most subdistricts, which have led to the defeat of the party candidates in many places.

Opposition party leaders claimed that people expressed their no- confidence in the AL government through their ballots in Wednesday' s elections.

The ruling party leaders, however, expressed the hope that their candidates will perform better in the elections of the rest 385 subdistricts.

According to the schedule, elections will be held in phase by April this year.