Clashes and boycott mark municipality polls in third phase

Clashes and boycotts have marked the third phase of voting in 62 municipalities to elect new representatives to the posts of mayor and councillors.

The polls opened at 8 am Saturday and continue until 4 pm without any interruption. The votes were cast using traditional ballot papers.

The Election Commission spoke of taking special precautions to ensure a peaceful election environment after clashes during the first two rounds of the polls.

However, the measures had little impact on what came to be.

Mayoral candidates of the BNP raised complaints of fraudulent voting in Natore’s Singra, Kishoreganj’s Katiadi and Satkhira’s Kalaroa and subsequently announced a boycott of the elections.

Meanwhile, the police arrested four people, including three Union Parishad chairmen, on charges of snatching ballots in Mymensingh’s Gouripur.

A BNP-backed councillor candidate was hacked and injured at a centre in Feni Municipality, while there were also reports of crude bombs exploding at several centres.

Elsewhere, three others, including the polling agent of an Awami League mayoral candidate in Jhenaidah’s Harinakundu, were assaulted and left injured by the supporters of a councillor aspirant. In Tangail’s Bhuapur, another candidate running for councillor came under attack.

Despite the complaints and clashes in the municipality votes, the Election Commission maintained that the voting was going well “barring minor disturbances here and there”.

In his reaction to the second phase of voting, EC Secretary Md Alamgir said, “Perpetrators tried to ruin the polls in several places but law enforcers were able to bring the situation under control. There were minor incidents. Overall the municipality election was held peacefully.”

After the first phase, he said, “Overall, the election went well. Voter attendance was good as well. It’s been a successful election."

However, while visiting several centres in Savar in the second phase, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar had said, “Violence is on the rise in the municipality elections. Violence and election cannot go together.”

In the latest phase, no voting was held in Cumilla’s Laksam as the candidates were unopposed. The same thing happened to the mayoral posts of Gopalganj’s Tungipara and Bagerhaat’s Morrelganj.

In total, three people have been elected mayors uncontested, 25 councillors and nine councillors from reserved posts in this round of the election.

The 62 municipalities have nearly 1.9 million voters. Executive and judicial magistrates were on the ground along with members of law enforcement, including BGB, RAB, police and Ansar, to oversee the voting.

Votes were cast using electronic voting machines or EVMs during the first phase. The second round saw the use of both EVMs and ballot papers.

A total of 3,344 candidates are contesting in this phase. Among them, 229 are vying for the posts of mayor. But as always, the main contest will be between the candidates of the ruling Awami League and the BNP.

There are a total of 329 municipalities in Bangladesh. The Election Commission is holding elections in these municipalities in five phases this time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first phase of voting took place in 24 municipalities on Dec 28 last year, followed by the second round in 61 municipalities on Jan 16. The fourth and fifth phases will be held on Feb 14 and Feb 28.