EU condemns Bangladesh poll violence

The European Union's top foreign policy official Catherine Ashton on Thursday condemned the acts of violence before and during the Bangladeshi general elections. As many as twenty people were killed during Sunday’s elections, which were marred by violence, low turnout rate and a wide-ranging boycott by opposition parties. Ashton said the EU regrets loss of life and attacks against "the most vulnerable populations, including women and children as well as religious and ethnic minorities." Aston noted that the EU had earlier called for "transparent, inclusive and credible elections" and regrets that such conditions did not materialize. The opposition boycott turned the polls into a walkover for the ruling Bangladesh Awami League, which came out of the elections winning 215 seats, a two-third majority, in the parliament. Major world powers including the EU, the US, the UK and Russia refused to send observers to the country to monitor elections.