The High Court today directed the authorities concerned to conduct inquiry into allegations against S Alam Group owner Mohammad Saiful Alam of amassing huge amounts of properties abroad, including a business empire worth about $1 billion in Singapore, without permission from Bangladesh Bank.

The Anti-Corruption Commission, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police have been directed to conduct the inquiry and submit reports to the HC in two months, Deputy Attorney General Saifuddin Khaled told The Daily Star.

The court also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government to explain why their failure to prevent the alleged activities of the S Alam Group owner should not be declared illegal.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat Lizu issued the order and rule on a suo motu (voluntary) move following a report published on The Daily Star on August 4 under the headline "S Alam's Aladdin's Lamp".

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S Alam's Aladdin's lamp

Supreme Court lawyer Syed Sayedul Haque Suman placed the newspaper report before the HC bench seeking necessary directives.

The HC asked The Daily Star to submit the documents based on which the report was prepared to this court in two months.

According to the DS's investigative report, S Alam Group owner Saiful Alam has built a business empire in Singapore worth at least about $1 billion, although there is no record of him taking any permission from Bangladesh Bank to invest or transfer any funds abroad.

The Bangladesh central bank has so far allowed 17 companies to invest outside the country, and this Chattogram-based business giant is not on that list.

Yet in Singapore, Alam bought at least two hotels, two homes, one retail space, and other properties over the last one decade, all the while seeking to remove his name from the paper trails, documents cited by the report show.

Since its formation a year ago, the new Election Commission has largely failed to gain the opposition parties' trust, said political analysts.

When Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal in September unveiled a work plan for the next national election, he said gaining the political parties' confidence was a major challenge.

But despite opposition from major political parties like the BNP and the Jatiya Party, the EC in August announced that Electronic Voting Machines would be used in up to 150 constituencies.

However, the government in January shelved a plan to buy two lakh EVMs that would be needed to use in 150 constituencies.

The last two general elections were not held in a free or fair manner, and that eroded the general public's faith in ECs, said Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Shusashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan).

The current EC has yet to do anything that would change people's perception, he said, adding that the EC's first year was marred by controversies.

In 2014 national polls, 153 of the 300 MPs were elected unopposed, and in 2018, widespread ballot box stuffing was reported the night before the election day. The commissions that held the polls were widely criticised for these matters.

The current EC took office on February 27, 2022.

The next day, Chief Election Commissioner Awal urged political parties to stay in the election race.

However, the current election commissioners on several occasions said it was not their job to ensure all parties participated in polls.

Since its formation, the EC's discussions on the preparation of an election roadmap and the use of EVMs were shunned by the BNP and several other political parties.

BNP Standing Committee Member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said, "Our decision is that we will not participate in an election under the current government. We were not part of the process in which this Election Commission was formed, had not given them recognition, and had not taken part in any activities of the commission. We have not changed our stance and that is why we did not join the talks."

It is impossible for the EC to hold a free and fair election under the incumbent government, he added.

In June, the EC asked Awami League MP AKM Bahauddin Bahar of Cumilla-6 to leave the constituency for allegedly violating the electoral code of conduct by joining the campaign trail of an individual running for mayor.

Days later, Awal said Bahar was not asked, but merely requested to leave Cumilla ahead of the city corporation polls.

In May, Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman told an event in Madaripur that the CEC would give $10 million to anyone who could find EVMs' faults.

A few days later, CEC Awal denied making any such offer.

At a meeting among deputy commissioners and superintendents of police in October, there was a commotion after Anisur talked about allegations that many officers were biassed, and they did not properly spend the government funds.

Contacted, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Ahsan Habib Khan said, "The controversies that are being talked about are no big deal. In some cases, misunderstandings led to controversies."

The EC earned praise from many after suspending Gaibandha-5 by-polls in October amid numerous reports of irregularities, said election expert Abdul Alim, adding that the way it held the Cumilla city polls was also praiseworthy.

"But the six recent by-elections were marked by poor turnout of voters," he said.

Meanwhile, CEC Awal yesterday again urged the major political parties to reach a consensus so that a participatory and acceptable election could be held.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal today said if major political parties do not participate in the next national election, its legitimacy will "go down to zero".

During a press conference at his office this morning, the CEC also said that the political crisis was the biggest challenge to a free and fair election.   

"If the major political parties do not take part in the election there will be no crisis over legality, but legitimacy will go down to zero," he said.

He urged the "two big political parties" to hold talks to resolve the ongoing political crisis.

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Under strain, govt may go for inclusive polls

He also said it was not possible to ensure 100 percent free and fair elections, regardless of whether EVMs or ballot papers are used.

"But if the election was conducted using EVM it is safe," Habibul said.

There has been uncertainty about how participatory the next national election, slated for the end of this year or early 2024, will be as the BNP has been threatening to boycott the polls if it is held under the ruling Awami League government.

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Ensure inclusive national election

Since the latter half of last year, the party has been pushing their 10-point demand, which include holding the polls under a non-party caretaker government and the resignation of the AL government.

Electronic voting machines will not be used in the next national elections, the Election Commission secretary said today. 

Jahangir Alam, the EC secretary, told reporters of the development after a meeting of election commissioners at the EC Secretariat today. 

He said polling in all 300 constituencies in the next national polls, slated for late 2023 or early 2024, will be held using ballot papers and transparent ballot boxes. 

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Govt suspends purchase of 2 lakh EVMs

When asked why they would not use EVMs after earlier deciding to use the machines in 150 constituencies, Jahangir said, "In our election roadmap we had decided to use EVMs at a maximum of 150 constituencies. A Tk 8,000 crore project was undertaken in this regard, but that has not progressed."

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EVMs and a mind-reading election commissioner

He further said it would have taken Tk 1,260 crore to refurbish old EVMs, and the finance ministry expressed its inability to pay that amount.

Moreover, many political parties had a difference of opinion about the use of EVMs in the national elections, said Jahangir. 

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Who is afraid of EVMs and why?

"The EC may have taken the decision considering all this," he told reporters.

The day before the election, I asked my rickshaw puller on my way to work if he would be voting the next day or not. He told me he had voted in every single election since the 1990s, but that he wouldn't vote at this one. "There is only one contestant in this contest. What difference will my vote make?" he asked. He said his son and daughter, both of whom lived in Dhaka, had travelled to their village home to cast their votes. Their mother lived there by herself, and they had heard that those who didn't vote would face trouble in their village. As they didn't want their mother to face any harassment once the election was over, they went to their village to vote.

On my way back home from work, I asked another rickshaw puller the same question. He said he won't return to his village to vote as travelling is expensive. He said he had voted for Awami League in every single election till 2014. "Those who came to power on the back of my vote have snatched away my right to vote. What is the point of me voting anymore?" he asked. As he pulled away his rickshaw from the gate of my house, I heard him saying—perhaps to me or perhaps to himself—that he will not vote again.

On election day, I visited one of the biggest slums in Dhaka. During conversations with its dwellers, almost everyone asked the same question: "What's the point of this election?" Its winner has already been predetermined.

So, what's the point of this election?

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One more vote, one vote fewer: Why people will and won't go to polls

Firstly, it's so that those who are in power can continue being in power and claim they are doing so somewhat legitimately. Secondly, it is more for the geopolitical optics.

It is no secret that the ruling party has been under some pressure from powerful Western countries—especially the US—to not repeat what happened in the elections of 2014 (where 153 out of 300 seats were declared uncontested) or of 2018 (where "voting" largely took place the night before the election). Hence, the ruling party has been scrambling to place dummy candidates to contest seats against party-nominated candidates. And, just so it doesn't have to resort to substantial vote-rigging, Awami League has also been threatening and coercing voters to turn up at polling centres, with an aim of showing a reasonable percentage of voter turnout.

But, why? Well, according to Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman, there is a possibility that Bangladesh could face isolation from the world if the election were not free, fair, and credible. "If we can't make this election acceptable, our future would be uncertain," he said. So, the ruling party has to portray an "acceptable" voter turnout at this election to the rest of the world. Even the chief election commissioner admitted that there "is an international dimension" to the election, which "none can underestimate."

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The guilt that comes with voting at a farcical election

As of writing this article, it seems voter turnout will not exceed 50 percent even with some reports of vote-rigging. Will that be "acceptable" enough? And will it make up for the "repressive" environment—according to United Nations Special Rapporteur Clément Nyaletsossi Voule—that was created in the country in the run-up to the election? Even before election day, the election had been described as "a one-sided affair," "a one-woman show," and even an outright "farce" by the Western media. By engineering the percentage of voter turnout, can the ruling party legitimise the election to the Western world?

The answer to that question will not only impact the ruling party, but the future of Bangladesh as a whole. Given the economic cracks that have appeared in recent times, any damage in economic, trade, or even aid relations with Western countries in particular, would deal severe damage to our economic future/prospects. So, even though important Awami League leaders have been reassuring the people that everything will be fine once the election is over and that there will be no problems with other countries, given the hostile rhetoric that has also been coming out simultaneously from the ruling party camp, for the general public, it cannot be said for certain that the geopolitical games that Bangladesh finds itself in are now over.

On the flipside, the idea among the political class—in both the ruling and opposition camps—that outside powers will determine the political landscape in Bangladesh is, I believe, a mistaken one. Ordinary people in Bangladesh might not understand the intricacies of the geopolitical games that are afoot. However, they understand very well the political and economic realities facing them. Their very real struggles of not being able to vote in consecutive elections, and of not being able to afford three square meals a day, mean they are now stuck in an extremely difficult battle for survival—which our detached political class cannot even fathom.

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Political parties need to behave more responsibly towards the electorate

How will the ruling party deal with the geopolitical pressures, the jailing and persecution of thousands of opposition activists, and the discontent of the general public due to the extremes in corruption, mismanagement in governance, and outright looting of public wealth and national resources, all at the same time? The election, therefore, might not be the endgame after all—there are too many uncertainties that still lie ahead.

This absurd election has ended. But it has failed to provide any answers as to how the fundamental cracks and divisions in our society can be addressed, including the enormous inequalities—whether they be political, social, or economic—that have emerged, particularly as a result of the people losing their voting rights.

Eresh Omar Jamal is a journalist at The Daily Star. His X handle is @EreshOmarJamal

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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