The country is going to experience the upcoming union parishad (UP) elections under the banners of various parties for the first time in the history of local government polls. However, experts have warned that this electoral system would be questionable if the Election Commission (EC) and stakeholders in local body elections are unable to fulfil their respective roles properly. They have observed that if the political parties nominate corrupt candidates, musclemen, murderers and/or drug traders as their candidates for contesting the upcoming UP elections, then the electoral system would be destroyed. This is an ominous sign for democracy, they have noted. Several allegations have been levelled that political leaders, especially of the ruling Awami League, have selected  corrupt individuals, musclemen, killers and drug traders, in lieu of huge amounts of money, as candidates for contesting the posts of chairmen in the upcoming UP elections scheduled to start from March 22. Besides, over 60 candidates nominated for the chairmen posts by the ruling Awami League are set to be elected unopposed in the first phase of elections to 738 union parishads. Talking to The Independent over the issue, Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik’s (Sujan’s) secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said the elections under political banners is really a good system, one that is followed by other countries as well. But if the stakeholders of the local government and the EC do not fulfil their respective roles properly, then no system to strengthen the local administration would work, he observed.
“What we notice in the newspapers and on television channels is that political leaders are engaged in business dealings while nominating party candidates. Over 60 ruling party candidates are set to be elected unopposed in the first phase of the UP elections. This is an ominous sign for democracy and for the local administration,” he said.
Transparency Interna-tional Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said the local body elections under party banners is a positive trend in the country’s political culture, as the leadership at the grassroots level will flourish through the process.
“But if we want to derive merits from the election process, the EC would have to play an impartial role during the polls. This is the major challenge facing the EC. Similarly, the political parties should be cautious about nominating their party candidates. Otherwise, no system to strengthen the local body administration will work,” he said.
Replying to a question, Iftekharuzzaman said there would be a question mark over the electoral system of the local body polls if the allegations raised by the opposition parties and other quarters were proved to be true.
About the single candidates in over 60 unions, the TIB executive director said that the phenomenon of single candidates was not unusual. However, if this is occurs as the result of an uncongenial electoral environment, it would affect the electoral system, he added.
Meanwhile, the BNP has lodged a complaint with the EC that at least 114 aspirants from the party had failed to submit their nomination papers, as activists of the ruling AL allegedly assaulted them and snatched their nomination papers.
EC officials said aspirants for the posts of chairpersons from 16 political parties submitted nomination papers, while 24 of the 40 registered parties had earlier informed the commission that they would contest the elections.
Some 1,900 candidates for chairmen posts nominated by the political parties, and 1,668 Independent candidates, submitted nomination papers for the 738 unions.