The BNP is unlikely to participate in the upcoming district council elections likely to be held in December, as the party has few elected representatives in different local government bodies.
According to the District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016, only the elected representatives of different local government bodies — city corporations, upazila parishads and union parishads — will vote to elect a chairman, 15 general members and five women members in each district council.
Party insiders say they do not have sufficient elected representatives in the local government bodies, and most of the elected ones are either behind bars or on the run.
Although the BNP boycotted the January 5, 2014, national elections, it contested all the local government elections held since the national election.
The party also alleged that fair election is not possible under the incumbent Election Commission and therefore, the chance of participating in the district council elections is very slim.
“The chance to participate in the election is very thin as the election conducting system is faulty. But the final decision [in this regard] would be made at the party’s standing committee meeting soon,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told The Daily Star yesterday.
Firstly, he said, the voters of zila parishads are the elected representatives of various local government bodies, and those representatives are mostly from the ruling party.
Secondly, the incumbent election commission has failed to conduct a fair election so far, the BNP spokesperson added.
In 2000, the Awami League-led government repealed the Zila Parishad Act, 1988, and passed the District Council Act, 2000, with a provision for direct polls. But no elections to the councils had been held so far, allowing bureaucrats to run those bodies.
In December 2011, the AL government appointed 61 administrators, mostly top leaders of the ruling party’s district units, to as many district councils.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “We have repeatedly said that fair election is not possible under this incumbent election commission. This election commission is serving the purpose of the ruling party. So there is a very slim chance of participating in the district council election under this commission.”
Mohammad Shahjahan, vice-chairman of the party, said, “We’re not concerned about the district council elections. We also have no interest because common people are not the voters of the election.”
He alleged that the voters of the district council elections were not elected rather were selected by the ruling party men.
“When the voters of district council elections are themselves controversial, it can be understood what the results would be. Now our only concern is about national elections,” Shahjahan added.
In upazila elections held in 2014, BNP favourites won 166 chairmen posts, while the nominees blessed by the AL secured 235 posts. For vice-chairman posts, the ruling party bagged 358 posts while the BNP secured 299 posts.
The union parishad elections were held in five phases this year. AL candidates won around 2,300 chairmen posts while BNP candidates won some 300 chairmen posts.
Source: The Daily Star
