Both the government and opposition Unity Front even made no effort to bring the voters to the polling centers to cast their votes. As a result there was no anxiety on the part of the government about the need of showing the presence of their huge supporters as being claimed.
According to the Election Commission report the two mayors of Dhaka city got less than 18 per cent votes. The opposition can raise any number of grievances, we accept it or not. But the government had no excuse for not showing big support at the polls.
By the result produced by the Election Commission it is clear that both the government and the opposition failed to attract voters. The voters have no faith in opposition that they are ready to fight on their behalf to get their voting right. The political leaders of the opposition are talking big about big resistance but proving failure joining the anti-election system in the hope of concessions for personal independence or general gains.
In short political leaders themselves are not taking the people’s votes as essential for legitimating the politics or to be in power. Election, like politics, has become good business. There are ways of spending and there are ways of getting money. Because it is the easiest way for becoming rich by doing politics. Politics is now treated as gambling.
It appears only a fraction of the 54 lakh voters in the city voted and most of such votes were moreover mishandled. Many voters said they were forced to vote by ruling party agents for the government candidates and volunteers guarding the polling centers were government persons under the guise of Election Commission officials.
What most city dwellers and election watchers wonder is how the newly elected mayors and councillors would claim to have been elected by people. The vast majority of city dwellers stayed at home on the occasion rendering the election a nuisance.
When 83 percent of voters voted against the mayors by not voting in their favour they have no reason to claim that they are genuinely elected persons. Nowhere in the world an election with such low turnout is treated an election. In some countries the polling continues until a candidate wins 51 percent votes.
Reports said voters’ turnout were 7 to 8 percent at most places while ridiculously up to 75 at some others. The Chief Election Commissioner K M Nurul Huda claimed that turnouts were around 30 percent. He bought the EVMs at an exorbitant price but the machines were so unpredictable that he could not even go through the machines.
The big question is that people have lost faith in the election system already destroyed by the government. So they opted to stay indoors with family. Many knew there was a risk of going to polling centres.
An election in which people can’t freely vote is not an election, it is cheating the nation under the cover of so-called democratic exercise, so people no longer bother elections.
Many critics also wonder why BNP participated in the polls in absence of even plain field or otherwise why didn’t the party mobilize its big vote banks.
The use of EVM in this election has created newer questions. It has technically replaced rigging at midnight but many people complaint harassment to finger matching that lost their patience and huge time.
Voters also complaint at almost all centers that ruling party men and their ‘helpers’ had switched the EVM button and cast their votes over their shoulder. They had no secrecy.
The big worry is election has become a meaningless farce and power grabbing is everything for legitimising the government to be in power. This is a dangerous encouragement of might is right politics.
