16 aspirants face murder charges
At least 118 chairman aspirants of the 393 contesting elections to the third phase upazila stand accused in different types of cases, including criminal offences, Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan) has claimed.
Of them, 16 are accused in murder cases, said a Shujan report that was revealed at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity yesterday.
A total of 434 chairman candidates are running for the polls to be held in 83 upazilas on March 15.
Shujan, a civil society organisation aiming at establishing good governance, has prepared the report on the basis of information mentioned in the affidavits of the 393 chairman aspirants because it could not collect the affidavits of the rest.
The report features various kinds of information regarding the chairman contestants of the third phase.
As in the previous phases, the third phase election is set to witness a dominance of businessmen with more than half of the chairman contenders belonging to this profession.
Over half of the chairman candidates have completed graduation while 78 candidates could not complete secondary level education.
The annual income of 121 candidates is less than Tk 2 lakh each and only two contestants each earn more than Tk 1 crore annually, according to the report.
At least 50 candidates each own properties worth more than Tk 1 crore. Of them, five have assets over Tk 5 crore each.
Some 54 contestants have taken loans and only 148 have paid income tax, as the report states.
Addressing the press conference, Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar once again emphasised the need for stopping political parties' interference in local government elections, which are nonpartisan polls by nature.
About the candidates' affidavits, he said if the government moves to prevent the affidavits from being brought into the public domain, it will be an impediment in the way of a sound political culture flourishing in the country.
Several top level Shujan officials were present at the press conference.
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