‘Voters trusted my manifesto’

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, the mayor-elect of Chattogram City Corporation, is set to take oath of office today, after winning last month's election with ruling Awami League's symbol "boat" in polls marred by low voter turnout and violence. In an interview with this newspaper, the new city father answered some unpleasant questions about his election, and shared his plans for the city.

The Daily Star (DS): You have been elected mayor in the polls where just 22.5 percent votes were cast. Are you happy to be elected mayor through votes of such a small number of constituents?

Rezaul Karim: Those who went to polling centres cast their votes. Nobody violated people's right to vote. If large number of voters do not go to polling centres, what can we do? BNP spread propaganda so voters do not go to polling centres. They engaged in violence, so people panicked, and felt discouraged to come to polling centres. Another reason was that the day of polls was not declared as a public holiday. So people went to work and did not come to cast votes. I am happy as I have been elected by a huge margin. Almost 90 percent of voters who went to polling centres cast their votes for the symbol "boat". So there is nothing to be unhappy.

DS: BNP alleged that as you [Awami League] did not want a huge number of voters to go to polling centres, the holiday on the day of polls was cancelled.

Rezaul Karim: It was the decision of Election Commission. But we thought presence of voters would increase if the polls day is not declared as holiday. So we did not oppose the decision. In our previous experience, it was seen that most people who are not locals go to their village home or go for vacation, if holiday is declared. We expected a huge number of voters to come to polling centres, but they did not. The negative politics of BNP is responsible behind peopl losing interest to come to polling centres.

DS: In the result, it was seen that BNP mayoral candidate did not get a single vote in many polling centres. Is it plausible?

Rezaul Karim: They created panic the night before polls day. So their voters did not come to polling centres. They wanted to make the polls controversial as they knew they lost all trust among voters.

DS: You have won the race with around 369,000 votes while BNP candidate received around 52,000 votes. Are you satisfied in such a one-sided, almost uncontested win?

Rezaul Karim: I have been elected in a contested election. Voters liked my pledges in elections manifesto. They kept trust on me and the politics of development by AL government. BNP has lost its support among people. The party is seriously affected by inner groupings. You see no big leaders of the party sought votes for their mayoral candidate. Not a single central leader was seen in the campaign. How would voters trust them? They will get fewer votes in future. They would turn into a party like Muslim League.  

DS: BNP candidate's polling agents were not seen at polling centres. They alleged that your activists in assistance with law enforcers drove them out.

Rezaul Karim: They will have to show the evidence in favour of their allegations. Ask them to produce a single evidence. If their agents did not go to the polling centres, if they fail to find polling agents due to organisational weakness, it is their own problem.   

DS: It was reported that a group of leaders in your party did not work for you. Would intra-party feud make it difficult for you to carry on your duies smoothly?

Rezaul Karim: First of all, there is no intra-party feud in AL. We may have difference of opinion but we all are united when it comes the question of winning of the candidate of symbol boat. You see, all leaders conducted campaign for me. Some people alleged that Nasir [former CCC mayor AJM Nasir Uddin] would not work for me. But everybody saw he was with me in campaign each and every day. Activists of the party worked heart and soul for me  .                     

TDS: In your elections manifesto, you pledged to address some issues like waterlogging and traffic jam, that a mayor does not have mandate to do. How do you plan to address those?

Rezaul Karim: It is true that a mega project has been undergoing to address waterlogging which the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is implementing. But people hold city corporation liable for waterlogging. After taking over charge, I would take initiative to coordinate with CDA. I would take projects to excavate new canals, to re-excavate existing ones and to clear obstructions in primary, secondary and tertiary drains so that rainwater recedes very quickly.

Regarding traffic jam, I would go for coordination with traffic department of Chattogram Metropolitan Police. It is seen that people hold CCC responsible regarding traffic jam although traffic department is responsible to address it. At present, we see there is no coordination between service-providing organisations in the city. So when CCC repairs a road, Wasa or PDB or T&T are seen to cut it after some days. So people suffer as traffic jam occurs on the road. Lack of coordination between the organisations brings public suffering and waste of public money. I will address these issues through coordination.

DS: You pledged for developing the city as a modern and tourism-friendly one. Could you elaborate on that?

Rezaul Karim: Chattogram is a unique city with sea in one side and the hills on the other. There are a lot of historic and religious sites in the city. The places and structures bearing memories of Anti-British revolutionaries have enriched the city. All these things make it a treasure  trove for tourism. We could not explore it properly. I would talk to experts and eminent citizens to take their suggestions to develop the city a modern and tourism friendly one.

DS: What will be your prime priority after taking over charge?

Rezaul Karim: I will initiate a 100-day programme that would include initiatives to address mosquito menace, waste management and repair the battered roads. I would like to create an impression to city dwellers through my 100-day programme so that they may think themselves as the residents of a clean and beautiful city. I want to bring  about a positive change in citizens' mind about CCC.