Young voters in ballot battle

Surpassing all suspicions and speculations, the country now inexorably moves towards an elected government through the December 29 balloting. This election is particularly significant as the voting takes place in a different background with a variety of changes that happened after 1/11 with a rallying cry to cleanse politics.
The two major political parties, which are leading two alliances for the December 29 polls, have set their eyes on the young people who got registered for the first time as voters, and desperately trying to woo them in a bid to win the ballot battle.
AL has dedicated its "Vision 2021" to the young generation and has pledged to present a digital Bangladesh to them by 2021. BNP has also a waft of promises for the young voters including a bright and successful future for the new generation.
The young voters in the country who are preparing to cast their first vote in life, are expecting a paradigm shift in national politics through the forthcoming polls. Interestingly, around one in three voters will cast their votes for the first time and they are truly thirsty for a qualitative change in politics.
The maiden voters consisting of 33 percent of the total electorates and having no allegiance to any particular political party are the crucial deciding factor in this election. Therefore, they have a vital role to play in paving the way for clean and competent candidates to sit in the parliament. The judicious casting of votes by the young voters can open avenues of opportunity to cultivate a politics with some core values and principles.
The young voters imbued with dedication, courage and determination can steer the country clear of the politics of plundering, casting their precious votes judiciously for entry of clean and competent people into national politics, who can work for peace, prosperity and welfare of the country.
The young generation to whom the country's leadership will be passed on, have a lot of well articulated opinions on how the politics and the society should be moulded. But their opinions have hardly been taken to account by the peoples in power. They have now poised to elect a government that will tend to their aspirations for a prosperous future.
The findings of SHUJAN, which conducted a survey on the candidates of the ninth parliamentary polls in 102 constituencies is simply mind-boggling. A total of 48 candidates which include 27 from BNP and 17 from AL, are charged with corruption, while 100 candidates, including 34 from BNP and 24 from AL, are facing murder cases. Besides, at least 87 candidates of grand alliance including 67 from AL and 102 of four-party alliance candidates including 88 from BNP are facing cases on various charges.
According to the survey, at least 139 candidates from BNP and 101 from AL, 22 from JP, 12 from Jamaat, eight from Islami Andolon Bangladesh and 44 independent candidates faced cases in the past. At least 493 parliamentary aspirants have no TIN numbers.
The survey further revealed that of the candidates, 130 have no educational qualification while 305 passed SSC or HSC. Citing several reports published in newspapers, the survey said that at least 21 war criminals are contesting in the election, and most of them are from four-party alliance.
One need not have much wisdom to assume what sort of people are likely to be elected for the ninth parliament if the conscious youths of the country do not come together for the imperative of casting their votes for the right persons.
Of course, we do not expect our MPs to be saints. But they must not be individuals who are markedly corrupt, tax evaders, loan or bill defaulters, and war criminals. Our overriding concern, however, is that the political parties are not really ready to take the country into a new direction by remoulding politics in accordance with the demand of the time.
Our valiant freedom fighters, the youths of that time, snatched the victory in this month thirty seven years back, fighting a fierce armed battle. Today's youths are now poised to fight a battle of ballots to restore the democratic polity, paving the way to lead the nation on to the promised path of progress and prosperity.
The cost we had paid for our victory was very high indeed in any standard. But the fruits of our efforts were systematically whipped away by a group of people in power in the political and social spheres. Let the spirit of independence inspire once again our young voters into voting for a government that will make a way for materialising the dreams we fought for in 1971.

A.N.M. Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.