Confusion galore over municipal polls

It was only on Thursday that Election Commissioner Jabed Ali came to know that political parties would be able to field a single candidate for mayor in the municipal polls slated for Dec 30.

On being informed of this by reporters, the commissioner called up Election Commission (EC) officials to get hold of a copy of the amended electoral regulations and the code of conduct.

An EC official told bdnews24.com that Ali did not get a chance to take a look at the regulations before the government published the gazette notification following the law ministry’s vetting.

“A lot of amendments were made while he was in Cox’s Bazar for official purposes. He expressed his dissatisfaction over it,” said the official who preferred anonymity.

While announcing the schedule for the polls on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed also said that they were being rushed through.

“We only came to know from media reports that the law was coming through. After it was passed (in Parliament) we saw what was in it and now we have a lot of work to do. We are in a hurry,” said the CEC.

After the Cabinet’s nod to amend local government laws to hold polls along party lines, an ordinance was issued for the municipality poll law due to paucity of time.

The ordinance said that mayor and councillor aspirants would contest the polls with symbols of the political parties they belong to.

But the government then amended it allowing only mayors to contest with party symbols, after which the EC announced the polls’ schedule.

The EC fixed Dec 3 as the deadline for filing nominations with voting fixed for Dec 30 in 236 municipalities across Bangladesh.

But since then, political parties, including the ruling Awami League (AL), have been expressing dissatisfaction over the new electoral regulations.

The ruling party wants MP’s to be allowed to take part in campaigns.

“A lot of ministers and MPs head the local units of the party in their constituency and they will have a key role over nomination of candidates. Many of them are unhappy as they are not allowed to take part in the campaign,” an AL leader, who asked not to be named, told bdnews24.com.

AL Central Sub Committee Assistant Secretary Reazul Karim Kawser told bdnews24.com that a delegation of AL MPs will go the Election Commission on Sunday to hand over a letter on the issue.

The Workers’ Party of Bangladesh, an ally of the Awami League, has called the EC to defer the polls saying ‘more time’ was needed to select mayor candidates.

The BNP, which decided to take part in the poll after boycotting the 2014 general elections, also made a similar call. It also opposes the ruling party’s call for allowing MPs and ministers to campaign.

The Election Commission has, however, made it clear that rescheduling of the polls will not be possible.