CEC Awal says 50% turnout ‘good enough’ for city polls

The Election Commission appears to be satisfied with the number of voters who cast their ballots in the polls to five city corporations

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has expressed satisfaction after completing the polls in five cities without any major incidents before the general election.

Amid a boycott by the BNP, he says a 50 percent turnout in elections to the local government body is “good enough”.

He briefed the media after voting ended in the last round of elections in Sylhet and Rajshahi on Wednesday, saying they estimate the turnout was 55 percent in Rajshahi and 46 percent in Sylhet.

“A 50 percent turnout is good enough for such elections. The turnout somewhere between 60 percent and 70 percent would be excellent."

The turnout was between 62 percent and 75 percent in the last three city elections in Sylhet and between 76 percent and 81.61 percent in Rajshahi.

In the recent polls to Gazipur, Barishal and Khulna, around 50 percent of voters cast their ballots.

Analysts said it would be challenging to bring voters to the polling stations in Sylhet and Rajshahi after the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which drew a significant number of votes in Gazipur, Khulna and Barishal, announced a boycott in protest against an attack on its mayoral candidate in Barishal.

The supporters of councillor candidates, however, were expected to pack the voting centres.

Besides Sylhet and Rajshahi, Basail Municipality in Tangail went to polls on Wednesday.

CEC Awal said they were concerned about possible violence in Basail but no major incident was reported there while the turnout was estimated to be 70 percent.

“We feel satisfied. No unwanted incidents occurred in the city corporation elections. We didn’t receive reports of voters being barred.”

“We believe these elections will encourage the voters to turn out in the parliamentary polls enthusiastically,” he said.