Municipal polls see lukewarm response from them compared to JS elections
Small political parties are more interested in contesting the national elections than the local government polls. This is evident in their lukewarm response to the upcoming municipality polls.
The municipality polls, for the first time, will be held on partisan lines. Political parties registered with the Election Commission can contest the polls by nominating their candidates.
All the 39 political parties registered with the EC are entitled to join the battle of ballots for 236 mayoral posts. But only 20 have so far written to the EC within the deadline, expressing their interest to join the battle, according to sources in the EC Secretariat.
However, the previous parliamentary polls saw participation of a much higher number of parties.
Thirty eight registered political parties contested the December 2008 parliamentary election. The number was 14 in the country’s first parliamentary election in 1973. In the subsequent elections, their number kept on increasing — 29 in 1979, 76 in 1991 and 81 in 1996. The number rose to 96 in 2001, according to the EC Secretariat.
Performances of the small parties in those polls were very poor with almost all of their candidates losing their security deposits.
Participation of a huge number of parties came as an obstacle to proper management of the national polls, prompting the EC to make registration mandatory before the 2008 parliamentary election.
But most of the registered parties have declined to contest the upcoming municipality polls.
The three major parties — the Awami League, the BNP and the Jatiya Party — are interested in joining the local polls.
Of the other 10, all of which are small, only one or two may be able to bag a few number of mayoral posts with support from the BNP.
Some leaders of the small parties and political analysts have cited various reasons for the present situation. They say most of the small parties are based in the capital and run by central leaders who usually contest the national polls.
The parties do not have leaders and activists at grassroots level and that’s why they feel a lack of interest in contesting the municipality elections, observe political analysts and leaders of the small parties.
They also blame use of black money and muscle power in electioneering for poor response from small parties in local government polls.
A good number of registered parties are either under the AL-led or the BNP-led alliance. But their poor strength cannot empower them to get the best deals.
The AL has decided to contest the polls alone, not under the banner of the 14-party alliance. Although the decision has made some of its alliance partners unhappy, the AL will not change its position, party sources said.
The BNP has decided to contest the polls under the banner of the 20-party alliance. But almost all of its partners, excepting Jamaat-e-Islami, are parties in name only. The BNP will extend its support to Jamaat, Liberal Democratic Party and Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) for a few mayoral posts, party insiders said.
The Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam has sought BNP’s support in three mayoral posts, the Bangladesh NAP in six, the Jatiya Gonotantrik Party in five and the Muslim League in one, said BNP and other party sources.
But the BNP will back only one mayoral candidate of the LDP and the JP. For Jamaat, the party may extend support to around 8 to 10 independent candidates, Emran Saleh Prince, an assistant publicity secretary of BNP, involved in the nomination process, told The Daily Star last night.
Other partners who have sought BNP’s support may not get positive response due to their lack of popularity, they said.
Political scientist Prof Emajuddin Ahmed says activities of most of the small parties are limited to the capital city.
“So where will they get leaders to contest the local body elections?” he said.
Their central leaders cannot contest the local polls because of their status as politicians at the national level, he said.
Hafizuddin Khan, a former advisor to the caretaker government, echoes Prof Emajuddin.
“Even central leaders of many small parties do not have any support base in their localities as they limit their political activities to the capital city,” he said.
Sharif Nurul Ambia, general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, says different parts of the country were a stronghold of the left-leaning parties but they have lost their influence due to many reasons.
Had they retained their influence, they could have nominated their candidates in those municipalities, he said.
The JSD, also a component of the AL-led 14-party alliance, is now preparing to nominate candidates in less than 50 municipalities, said Ambia.
The Workers Party, another component of the AL-led alliance, may nominate mayoral candidates in 15 municipalities, said Fazle Hossain Badsha, general secretary of the party.
Registered with the EC, Gonotantri Party, a component of the AL-led 14-party alliance, however, has not yet sent any letter to the EC, expressing its interest to join the polls.
Contacted, Nurur Rahman Selim, presidium member of the party, said they hoped the EC would defer the polls.
Bangladesh Jatiya Party, a component of the BNP-led alliance, has decided not to contest the polls though it is a registered party.
Contacted, Andaleeve Rahman Partho, president of BJP, said: “We are not so strong at grassroots levels. So, it would be very tough for us to win the polls.”
Bangladesh Kalyan Party that had earlier sought BNP’s support in 11 municipalities too has decided not to contest the election.
“Popularity of our aspirants is less than those of the BNP. So, we have given up for the interest of the 20-party alliance,” Maj Gen (retd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, the party chief, told The Daily Star yesterday.
Source: The Daily Star