Electoral debacle for BNP as Awami League sweeps most mayor posts in 234 municipalities

The BNP has suffered a massive electoral meltdown by losing the mayoral race in most municipalities in Bangladesh’s first-ever polls on party lines to a local government body.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 30 Dec 2015, 06:24 PM
Updated : 31 Dec 2015, 12:25 PM

This came after what analysts say was BNP’s ‘suicidal boycott’ of the parliamentary elections in 2014 and a failed antigovernment movement in the beginning of this year.

It is one of the worst reversals of fortunes for the party after the 2008 catastrophe in general elections, when it had only 37 seats to show for.

Ruling Awami League candidates with the ‘boat’ symbol swept almost all of the mayor posts in the 234 municipalities that went to elections on Wednesday.

Polls in Madhabdi Municipality in Narsinghdi have been postponed following violence, reducing the number of municipalities to 233.

Results in six municipalities have been halted after the cancellation of voting in a number of centres.

The six municipalities are Thakurgaon Sadar, Syedpur, Ulipur, Betagi, Kalkini, and Choumohani.

According to the results announced until 2am on Thursday, BNP candidates secured only 22 mayor posts with its ‘paddy sheaves’ symbol in 227 municipalities.

The party had nominated candidates for 222 municipalities.

The Awami League candidates have won 177 posts.

Though the BNP has alleged large-scale rigging, the Election Commission says the election was ‘peaceful’ except for some ‘sporadic’ incidents.

The Awami League has also said it is happy with the election.

Wednesday’s balloting was the first partisan election to a local government body after the government brought changes to local government election laws.

The mayor candidates fought with party symbols, as done in parliamentary elections.

The people keenly observed as the Awami League’s ‘boat’ and BNP’s ‘paddy sheaves’ went head-to-head for the first time in seven years after the 2008 general elections.

The number of voters in the municipalities – 7.1 million – makes up only 7 percent of the total number of voters.

But the elections to the municipalities in all the districts turned into a battle for prestige for the two major parties.

They provided the Awami League with the opportunity to reconfirm the public mandate it got in the 2014 national election.

The municipal election was a ‘part’ of the BNP’s antigovernment movement. Had it won, it would have touted the outcome as a verdict on its demand for caretaker regimes to oversee national elections.

With its candidates staring at defeat in most municipalities, BNP chief Khaleda Zia met the leaders of her party and partners on Wednesday night.

The party has announced that it will come up with its reaction to the polls.

About 12,000 candidates fought for the posts of 234 mayors, 2,193 for general councillors and 731 for reserved councillors.

The Awami League mayoral candidates had won uncontested earlier in seven municipalities.

So, voting actually took place in 227 municipalities on Wednesday, including Madhabdi where the polls have been put on hold.

According to the results declared in the 224 municipalities, 27 winners fought independently, but most of them are rebel Awami League leaders.

The BNP rebel candidates won in two municipalities.

Two leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, which has lost its registration as a political party, have won in two municipalities.

They are Md Hanif of Birganj Municipality in Dinajpur and Nazrul Islam of Chanpainawabganj Municipality.

A total of 20 registered political parties have fought the election.

Besides the Awami League and the BNP, only one from Jatiya Party - Abdur Rahman Mia of Nageshwari Municipality in Kurhigram – has won.