The forthcoming first phase of UP polls
Once the candidacy
of the elections is settled, the task before the EC is to hold the elections
peacefully without giving favour to any party. This
is the real challenge
The Election Commission is going to announce the names of UP election candidates soon as scrutiny of the nomination papers submitted for the chairman and member posts has come to an end. In this first of the three phases of UP elections, election will be held in 739 UPs. Reportedly, of the total 39,430 candidates, 3,568 will vie for the chairman posts, 27,947 for member (general) and 7,915 (reserved). However, the aggrieved candidates who will be left out from the final list can appeal to the Election Commission within 27 of this month and it is expected that EC would patiently listen to their complaints and take appropriate measures so that it can minimise controversies regarding the elections.
Worryingly, in the forthcoming elections, in many places only a single chairman candidate has submitted his nomination papers. According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alleged 83 of their chairman candidates could not submit their nomination papers in the face of intimidation by the ruling party cadres.
It is not believable that one of the two major parties in Bangladesh, BNP, does not have candidates to contest in the UP election and it might be that the allegation of BNP is genuine. Or it might also be true that as a party BNP has become really too weak to float its candidates in these 83 Union Parisads. However, according to reports, independent candidates also alleged that they could not submit nomination papers in the face of intimidation. Whatever might be the cases, the Election Commission is urged to make inquiry into these allegations, because uncontested election is not a healthy sign of democracy. Once the candidacy of the elections is settled, the task before the EC is to hold the elections peacefully without giving favour to any party. This is the real challenge. During the elections, maintaining law and order situation will be completely in the hands of the EC which must become successful in doing this so that serious controversies regarding the outcome of elections can be avoided.
The Union Parisad is the lowest tier of the local government. For the development of rural areas, there is no alternative to electing peoples true representatives to the relevant UP posts. And for this, holding free and fair elections is a must and it is the ECs primary and principal responsibility.
