City polls results intensify rivalry
The outcome of the four city polls seems to have worsened the ongoing political standoff, as both the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP are now ever more rigid on the issue of polls-time government.
In the June 15 polls to the Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet city corporations, all the four AL-backed mayoral candidates suffered heavy defeats to their archrival BNP-backed candidates.
Political analysts say such an emphatic victory has emboldened the BNP-led 18-party alliance, and that it is evident in the way some senior BNP leaders have been speaking since.
The opposition camp can now fight tough in realising its demand for a non-partisan election-time government, they add.
According to them, the present situation is not conducive to reaching an agreement over the issue.
As analysts put it, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken a most rigid stance against the opposition demand, now saying: "If a caretaker government takes over again, it would not hold any election and hand over power."
M Hafizuddin Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government, told The Daily Star: "We had thought the two rival camps would soften their stance on the mode of an election-time government. But they have taken a hard line after the city polls."
Prof Dilara Chowdhury, who teaches political science, echoed Hafizuddin's view and said she was fearful of bitter political confrontations in the coming days if the two camps did not soften their stance.
To justify her apprehension, she cited the use of indecent language by AL and BNP lawmakers against each other in parliament over the last few days.
Senior BNP leader Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman supported their views, saying the results of the four city polls had shut the door for talks.
"The election results have put the two sides in an unbending position. It also opened the window for new polarisation in the national politics," said Mahbub, a member of BNP's standing committee.
A senior leader of the AL-led alliance said the city polls results had made it clear that the AL would not make any compromise with the BNP on the issue of a polls-time government.
AL Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah said the city polls had been a boost for the BNP.
"They [BNP] should now keep confidence in the present government that it does not interfere in or influence elections. It has been proved once again in the city polls," he added.
Rashed Khan Menon, chief of Workers Party, a component of AL-led alliance, said the BNP won the city polls, but its demand for a polls-time government suffered a defeat.
Both Menon and Zafarullah defended the premier's latest stance on the caretaker government.
But Hafizuddin Khan differs, and recalls the political stalemate that led to the declaration of the state of emergency on January 11, 2007, and the subsequent installation of an army-backed caretaker government.
He said the armed forces had intervened only when the country was sliding into a political crisis arising from the rigid stance of the two main parties.
"And if the prime minister thinks the masterminds behind the declaration of the state of emergency are still active, why doesn't her government take action against them?" he said.
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