AL concedes Rangpur mayor election as JP takes big lead

The Awami League has conceded defeat in the Rangpur City Corporation mayoral election halfway through the counting of votes as the Jatiya Party candidate has taken a massive lead.

The ruling party’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader says this ‘defeat’ is a ‘victory of democracy’.

When Quader was speaking at a news briefing in Dhaka on Thursday evening, the Jatiya Party’s Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa already leading by a margin of tens of thousands of votes in Rangpur, a stronghold of the opposition in parliament.

“The Election Commission is setting a record of peaceful election by playing an independent and authoritative role,” Quader said, to back his claim.  

“I will term it a victory of democracy. We are seeing the results of this election as a victory of democracy,” he added.

Asked if the results in Rangpur city polls were a sign of a drop in the Awami League’s popularity, Quader said, “We won in Narayanganj, but lost in Comilla. Is it that someone has to win all the elections? We are looking at this election politically.”    

He also said the Rangpur election was a ‘message for the BNP’, which has been demanding nonpartisan polls-time government for the next parliamentary elections.

The BNP, which boycotted the 2014 general elections, says no election can be fair with Awami League President Sheikh Hasina being prime minister.

The ruling party, however, is firm on its position to be in power during the next parliamentary polls, scheduled for a time between December 2018 and January 2019.

The Awami League says it will only do routine work during the polls while the EC will hold the election free from the influence of the government.

Quader said their stance has been vindicated in the Rangpur election.

“We are defeated in the election, but it is our political victory. The most important thing is that it has been a free and fair election,” he said.

Quader, the road transport and bridges minister, congratulated the winner ahead of the announcement of the final results.

Awami League Presidium Member Matia Chowdhury, joint secretaries general Dipu Moni and Jahangir Kabir Nanak, among others, were also present at the briefing.