Two sides of upazila election coin

The Upazila Parishad is significantly important considering the governance of the country. There are three levels of local government system in the country: Zilla Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad. The city corporation is a municipality or a large city. Although the Upazila Parishad Law was enacted in 1985, with the growth of the country’s economy, the Upazila Parishad has become very important at present.

In particular, the present Awami League government has strengthened the upazila through the amendment of the law after coming to power in 2009. Therefore, the election of the Upazila Parishad has become more important to the political parties, especially for the ruling party.

Although the party symbols were not allocated in the first phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections on May 7, some parties including the Awami League and Jatiya Party participated. On the other hand, the main opposition BNP and its like-minded parties have boycotted this election like the last national elections on January 7 last.

The BNP leaders who participated in the upazila election were expelled from the party for violating party decision. That is, the BNP is rigid in this regard.

In the first phase of upazila election, voting was held in 139 upazilas. However, the election schedule was announced for 152 upazilas. Some of them were elected unopposed, while others were postponed due to legal complications. Most of the Awami League leaders have won the elections. Some 49 leaders who are directly active in Awami League have been elected. On the other hand, five expelled from BNP, three from Jatiya Party, two from Jatiya Jansanhati Samiti, and 1 each from Islami Andolan and Al Islam were elected.

The ruling party Awami League participated in this upazila election, but official instructions were given by the party's high command, so that the MPs and leaders of the party do not exercise influence. Awami League has even threatened to cancel MP nominations in the future if any MP or minister affects the upazila elections. But that was1 only.

In fact, in almost every upazila parishad election, MPs and locally influential leaders have supported someone from behind, giving hints about what to do to their people. The heat of the influence touched the administration also. This is the reality. It is not that these rebel leaders supported the party people in all cases. Their supports depended on personal relationships and local political tactics.

But despite all this, outwardly the election has been held fairly. At one or two places there were sporadic clashes between supporters of the candidates and that is all as the main opposition BNP did not join this election. The reasons for this are not clear. Their party position is not to participate in any election under the current government. They have expelled 142 leaders and activists for disobeying party instructions and participating in upazila elections. This is an eye-popping number. This proves that there is disagreement with the decision of the high command of the party at the local level or at the grass roots level of BNP. Many political analysts feel that BNP could have remained in the elections without making an official announcement.

This would have created networks among party workers, strengthened ties with like-minded parties at the local level, and provided some clarity as to what was actually happening on the ground. Along with that, organizational weaknesses were evident to the party. It is true that there was no significant rigging in this Upazila Parishad election. However, it is difficult to say what would have happened if BNP had participated on a large scale. Another reality is that there is doubt about how much support the administration and local government will get if someone who is against the government's ideals and vision is elected in the upazila parishad. The ordinary voters know this.

Our past experience is not good. Even after the candidate of the opposition political party was elected in the local elections, we have seen lawsuits, discrimination in allocation and various types of harassment, during the tenures of all governments.

This country of the world is not England! Local government elections were held in England a few days ago. There, the opposition Labor Party made huge gains. Sadiq Khan has been elected Mayor of London for the third time. It is certain that there will be no impact on local government management there. For a long time no complaints were heard in England about the party discrimination of the government.

According to the characteristics of our country, voter participation is higher in local elections than in national elections. The government also wanted higher voter turnout; but the voter turnout was not as expected. A little more than 40 percent of voters voted in the last national election, but less than 40 percent participated this time in upazila polls. But it is also true, extreme competition has been observed in several upazilas. Even a margin of several hundred votes was determinable. Out of 139, 22 upazilas have voted through EVM as per the decision of the Election Commission. There is controversy over EVMs. Not only in Bangladesh, but in different countries. Some say rigging is possible through EVM which does not look like normal manual rigging. Others say that there is no scope for rigging in EVMs. Only EVM experts can tell.

There are three more rounds of UP elections ahead. The main thing to watch in that election is the voter turnout. It cannot be said that there is much excitement beyond this. However, if the upazila elections are completed, there may be an opportunity for the government to organize a party. Because, there is a big rift at the local level within the ruling Awami League which is very important for the party to repair.

Author: Literary and Journalist