Prothom Alo
After widespread unrest and loss of lives in the first two phases of union Parishad elections, many hoped that the third phase of voting would be at least fair. The election commission headed by KM Nurul Huda also behaved in such a way that it will prove its efficiency this time around. What they did at the end of the day, it is better to call it a farce than an election. At least 10 people were killed and over 150 were injured in clashes during the elections. Among the dead was a BGB member. What will the commission say now?
In other countries, the election commission learns from previous mistakes and tries to correct them in the next elections. But the commission formed by the search committee’s much calculated analysis never make a mistake. As a result, the commission does not need to make any correction. EC secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker had said that despite some isolated incidents the election this time would be a model election. Every type of crimes, from the occupation of polling stations to attacks on election officials and law enforcement agencies, took place.
How the election went is more important than who won or lost. A few more phases of elections will be held in the coming days. There is no sign that those elections will be better than this. Could the conflict have not been prevented in this local level election? Couldn’t the people’s suffrage be ensured? The election commission releases data on voter turnout, with which the real picture in the field level often does not match. Many have been elected unopposed in the third phase as well like the last two phases.
The rebel candidate who won by a narrow margin was earlier expelled from the Awami League. In that case, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the area does not have any ‘Awami League representative’ now. If the election had been fair and peaceful with the participation of all parties, ruling Awami League would not have won any posts in many more places likewise.
Who will elect the people’s representative? Neither the party nor the election commission elects people’s representatives. But the role of the people in the union parishad elections was secondary. As the election was not competitive and fair, they could not choose their representatives independently.
The decision has been imposed on them. The recurrence of such elections, whether at the local or national level, will only make the fragile democratic system more fragile. Since the election commission was in charge of conducting this election, they must take the responsibility for this failure.
