Security eats up half the budget

More than half the money spent for holding the upazila polls went to law enforcement agencies. But the agencies have little to show for it as the elections witnessed widespread violence and polls rigging.
The Election Commission spent around Tk 330 crores for holding elections to 458 upazila parishads in five phases -- between February 19 and March 31.
Around Tk 185 crores of it were spent on security. Rab and police were paid Tk 63 crores, the army Tk 24 crores, Border Guard Bangladesh Tk 18 crores and Ansar Tk 80 crores, said EC officials.
The security measures, however, were very poor during the polls marred by violence, election rigging, capture of polling stations, stuffing of ballot boxes, intimidation of voters, and attacks on election officials.
At least 14 people were killed and several hundreds were injured in election-related violence, according to news reports.
Different quarters came down heavily on the law enforcers for their alleged negligence, inactivity and bias.  
Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz on April 1 told reporters that law enforcers in many cases did not discharge their duties properly.
Shushashoner Jannoy Nagorik (Shujan), an organisation that promotes good governance, at a press conference on March 28 said the law enforcement agencies and the army could not play an effective role in preventing violence in the upazila elections.
Election Working Group (EWG), a platform of 29 civil society organisations, at a press conference on April 2, said law enforcers had shown a patently unprofessional attitude in discharging their duties.

Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain told The Daily Star law enforcers could not discharge their duties properly due to the influence of ruling party leaders.
"It was the Election Commission's duty to facilitate the law enforcers to work free of the influence of any political party leader," he said.
Talking to The Daily Star, several officials of the EC Secretariat said law enforcers on many occasions did not act in line with the directives of the commission. They rather remained inactive in many upazilas.
For instance, several hundred supporters of the Awami League-blessed chairman candidate of Savar upazila in Dhaka laid siege to the election control room for around two hours after voting ended on February 27.
Despite repeated calls, the law enforcers failed to take prompt action so that election results could be published. They reached the spot an hour and a half after they were asked to help, said EC official.
Supporters of the AL-blessed chairman aspirant and the AL rebel candidate of Gazaria upazila in Munshiganj clashed at the UNO's office on March 22. UNO ATM Mahbub-Ul-Karim told The Daily Star he had called police but they never showed up.
Police remained inactive in many upazilas to favour AL-backed candidates, EC officials said.
In many polling centres of Chandpur, Feni, Satkhira, Munshiganj, Jessore, Tangail and a few other districts, ruling party men stuffed ballot boxes in the presence of law enforcers, according to EC officials and The Daily Star correspondents.
Police even got locked in heated conversations with election officials and assaulted them on a number of occasions.
On March 22, an assistant sub-inspector of Gazaria Police Station assaulted assistant returning officer ATM Mahbub-Ul-Karim, who was also upazila nirbahi officer, following an altercation over distribution of voting materials among presiding officers.
On March 15, during the third phase of the elections, then officer-in-charge Nurul Islam of Hizla Police Station in Barisal assaulted upazila Election Officer Zahedul Islam when the latter tried to prevent ruling party men from storming a polling centre.