Second phase of municipal elections

The second phase of the four-stage local elections was held on Saturday in a total of 60 municipalities in the country, amidst reports of sporadic clashes, violation of rules and not-so-free and open vote casting. While it was good to see people's undiminished interest in the local polls, one cannot say the same about the fairness of the elections. Although the campaign period was relatively free from violence, compared to previous years, it was sad to see an elected councillor of the BNP killed, allegedly, by the supporters of his opponent. The reports suggest that polling agents of the opposition BNP were almost invisible in the polling stations. The reason is very obvious. 

We have, however, two different versions of what happened on election day. If we are to believe the version by the Election Commission Senior Secretary, it was a peaceful election with 60-70 of votes cast. But one of the Election Commissioners does not see it as being participatory or peaceful. Opposition agents were few and far between in the polling stations, according to him, and the votes cast in the stations that he visited were much less than what the EC Secretary has suggested. We believe the statement given by the Election Commissioner is borne out by reports in both electronic and print media.

There are reports of electoral rules violation, coercion and intimidation of opposition candidates and voters. Reportedly, BNP agents were prevented from entering the booths; in fact, inside many centres, supporters and activists of the ruling party were reportedly found to be involved in politicking for the party's candidates, and forcing the voters to cast their vote for the "boat" symbol. In short, violation of the rules was the order of the day. What we saw on Saturday in most of the 60 municipalities was a repetition of the same old story. It was a sham in the name of election, and the results were foregone conclusions. Most of the mayoral posts were won by the ruling party candidates as predicted.

It is evident that the level playing field is missing. Coercion and intimidation, on the election day in particular, continue as before. Unless the members of the EC is prepared to see the reality on the ground and act honestly to live up to their oath of office, elections will lose any relevance to the people, and come to be a mere meaningless formality.