Municipal elections
AL confident of victory
BNP sceptical about fair polls; EC to sit with law enforcers Dec 19
Rafiqul Islam Azad and Abu Jakir
The Awami League (AL) mayoral candidates are confident of victory in the upcoming municipal elections, while those of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) fear the polls will not be free and fair. Although the Election Commission (EC) has assured free and fair polls, the BNP candidates are worried. They allege that the elections will not be held in a credible manner, or that a level playing field would not be provided for them. The Independent contacted several AL candidates who got party tickets on Tuesday night. They said they are confident of victory and that they are not worried about their opponents (BNP candidates). Even central AL leaders said their candidates will do better than BNP candidates, as the local body elections are going to be held under the party banner for the first time. The AL high-ups said the BNP will not do better this time, as people would not vote for its candidates because the party has become isolated from the people for their violent anti-government movement. After getting the party ticket on Tuesday night at Sheikh Hasinas Dhanmondi office, Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, an AL candidate for Moulovibazar Municipality, told this correspondent that he is confident of victory. I thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for nominating me, he said. I am confident of my victory in the municipal elections. I thank my leader Sheikh Hasina for choosing me as her candidate, Abdul Mannan Hawlader, AL candidate for Vedorganj Municipality in Shariyatpur district, said on Tuesday night.
When asked about his opponent (BNP candidate), he said: I need not know about the BNP candidate. The people of Vedorganj will vote for me. AL candidate Mohammad Abdul Wahab, also Suja Nagar Upazila AL secretary, told The Independent that the situation is congenial for him.
I am not worried about my opponent BNP candidate, as I have defeated him earlier. It will definitely be the same this time too, he said. Earlier, at a press conference at Sheikh Hasinas Dhanmondi political office yesterday, AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif termed the BNPs allegations against the Election Commission as false and fabricated. The BNP always says that elections will not be free and fair when they sense sure defeat. It is their habit. The municipal elections will be fair, he insisted. About rebel candidates, he said stern action will be taken against those who will violate party instructions and contest the polls. The ruling party finalised single candidates for all the 236 municipalities after a series of meetings at Gana Bhaban, with the party president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
On the other hand, BNP leaders fear the polls would be a repeat of previous elections, particularly Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation and upazila polls. They said they are joining the polls nonetheless as part of their movement to restore democracy and voting rights of the people. They warned that people would resist farcical polls, if the government and the Election Commission try it. BNP vice-chairman Maj (Retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed said he was not at all hopeful about a free and fair municipal polls. It will be a repetition of Dhaka and Chittagong city polls. No voter will be able to go to the polling centres and cast their votes, he added. Asked about participating in the polls despite being aware about this, he said we have swallowed the poison with full knowledge for the sake of democracy. If the polls are not held in a free and fair manner, the people will build up resistance against the government to bring back democracy, he said. He termed the next polls as the last chance for the govt and the EC to rectify themselves.
The freedom fighter alleged that there has been no improvement in the situation to hold the elections in a fair manner. The arrest of the incumbent mayor of Nandail Municipality, who is also contesting the polls, shows that the atmosphere is not conducive for holding the polls, he added. He apprehended that BNP leaders and candidates would be harassed by being implicated in false cases and would be put behind bars. It is the last chance for the government and the EC. If they fail, the BNP would wage a tougher movement, taking the people with them, for their right to franchise, he said.
The BNP chairpersons adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said if one goes by previous elections under the Awami League government, this time too the polls would not be held in a proper manner. Asked whether they have any apprehension about holding the polls in a fair manner, he said this is not the apprehension of the BNP, but the nation at large. Their track record is not good and the nation has no confidence in them, he added. He apprehended that people would not be able to cast votes.
The BNP nominee for Madaripur Sadar Municipality, Mizanur Rahman Murad, also apprehended that the elections would not be held in a free and fair manner. UNB adds: The Election Commission will sit with the law enforcement agencies on December 19 to finalise security strategies for the countrywide municipal election slated for December 30. The meeting will be held at BIAM auditorium in the capital, EC Secretary Sirazul Islam told UNB on Thursday night. The meeting will be attended by representatives from different law enforcement agencies, including police, Rab, BGB, Coast Guard and Ansar, intelligence agencies, the Armed Forces Division and returning officers with CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad in the chair.
