Special Correspondent :What is a contradiction in our party polities is that elections whether national or local do not demonstrate the Awami League’s or BNP’s popularity. Only the unpopularity of the party in power is established. Forced victory of the Awami League also proved that the government would not have won unless it was fully in charge of holding the January 5 parliamentary elections. The second phase of Upazila Elections held on February 27 and its results showed that the country’s voters have tried to exercise their rights to vote to rescue democracy someway amidst the ruling party backed candidates violence, vote rigging and use of local administration and police. Elections were held at 114 upazilas on Thursday in which the opposition BNP backed chairman candidates bagged 51 seats, Awami League backed candidates won in 43 seats, Jamaat backed participants won 8 seats and the remaining seats have gone to independent and rebel candidates. Jatiya Party backed candidates won only one seat to show the vagaries of its political acceptance to the nation at a time when it won 34 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad in January 5 election under a voter-less seat sharing arrangement.Political analysts hold the view that Awami League would have showed similarly battered results as Jatiya Party had there been the upazila election in a free and fair environment under a neutral government. The ruling party knew it well and have therefore held the one-sided parliament elections in which it has won 153 seats or majority in parliament without contest. The victories in the remaining seats were also won in similar voter-less election taking Jatiya Party to the race using force upon it to contest the polls as the stage managed opposition. The government moved to the upazila elections hastily after the parliament election to take the opposition BNP and others unguarded. It was seen as a government attempt to establish the ruling party control in the countryside when its popularity is at the lowest. But it appears that the election results are going to be a rather boomerang for the government exposing its hapless condition to the rural electorates. A tally of the two phases of the Upazila elections covering 213 upazilas out of 487, showed BNP and Jamaat have bagged 95 and 20 posts of chairman or 115 together compared to Awami League’s 77. Even most of these victories were snatched by the ruling party men in their respective localities using muscle power, police and the help of presiding officers who have either facilitated the rigging as party supporters or under intimidations of force. BNP candidates pulled out from elections at 15 upazilas on Thursday protesting widespread rigging and snatching of ballot boxes by ruling party backed candidates to ensure their victory. Moreover, during the first phase on February 19, the opposition backed candidates abandoned elections at seven upazilas to protest the snatching and vote rigging. In fact what we see is that the government has turned elections as a technical exercise to legitimize the capture of power at all levels and continue its rule no matter people has little faith in them. The US state department statement on Bangladesh released on Thursday has depicted a terrible situation pointing to flagrant violation of human rights, arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life, disappearance, torture and other cruelties, degrading treatment or punishment to opposition party workers and leaders, inhuman prison and detention center condition and arbitrary arrest by police and RAB and denial of fair trial of accused mostly in framed up cases. Like upazila elections at many places the Awami League has engineered the election results of the national election showing that it did not depend on the Election Commission to ensure its victory to continue in power. It pocketed 153 seats without any reference to the election process as uncontested. Despite all the allegations of abuse of power by the government one thing is clear from the election of upazila parishads that there is nothing to show the government’s popularity. But the opposition BNP has also no reason to feel happy. After the defeat of the BNP in 2008 national election it has done nothing to improve its image for popularity. The truth is elections are no contest for popularity. Only the government’s unpopularity is tested.
