| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
| ১০৯। পূর্ব-পাকিস্তানের উপুনর্বাচন | নিউইয়র্ক টাইমস | ৩ নভেম্বর, ১৯৭১ |
THE NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 3, 1971
PAKISTAN BARS 53 ELECTION CONTESTS
By, Malcolm Brown
The Pakistani Government nounced today (November 2) that 53 of the national Assembly seats taken away from members of the outlawed Awami League in East Pakistan would be filled without contest.
The announcement, which was regarded here (Dacca) as a severe blow to Bengali hopes for representative government in East Pakistan, means that only 25 vacated seats would be contested in special by elections next month. All candidates for these seats have been carefully screened by the Government.
The National Assembly, which has 313 members, was elected December 7 and charged with the task of writing a constitution to return Pakistan to civilian rule.
Session Postponed
But when the military Government headed by President Agha Mohmmad Yahya Khan postponed its first session in March, protect strikes were begun by the Awami League, which had won a commanding majority -167 of the 313 seats-on a platform of regional autonomy. The Pakistani Army's military action in East Pakistan began at the end of March, and the League was outlawed.
When President Yahya Khan announced later that the National Assembly would eventually be convened, 78 of the 167 Awami League members who had been elected last December were declared ousted on the ground that they had committed crimes against the State.
A seat won by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League, was to be held in escrow pending results of his trial on treason charges. The 88 remaining members-elect were told they would be permitted to take their seats as independents or as members of partics other than the banned Awami League.
Session Set for December 27
President Yahya Khan announced on October 12 that the Assembly would meet December 27 and that he would turn over power to a new central government soon after. He said that within 80 days of such a transfer of power, the Assembly could propose amendments to a constitution that was being prepared under the President's direction.
Members of the Bengali groups opposing the Pakistani military Government have denounced the forthcoming by-elections and the scheduled convening of the Assembly as a fraud and a betrayal of hopes engendered by the elections of last December.
