Staff Reporter :BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has expressed her positive attitude about taking part in the upcoming elections to the three city corporations– Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC).Former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Dr Emajuddin Ahmed said this after coming out of the BNP Chairperson Gulshan office in the city on Friday evening. “Khaleda Zia did not tell anything negative to us about the three city corporations elections. She is positive in this regard. If the atmosphere of holding neutral election exits, BNP may take part in the elections, ” he told reporters in front of her office.Replying to a question of reporters, Prof Emajuddin said that the strategy of the ongoing movement of BNP-led 20-party alliance might be changed, if they take part in the elections. Led by Prof Emajuddin, a pro-BNP professionals’ delegation visited the office. Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonosasthya Kendro, journalist Mahfuz Ullah, professors of Dhaka University Dr AFM Yusuf Hader, Tahmina Akter Tofee and Mamun Hossain are among the delegation team. Earlier on the day, BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman said that their party would soon announce its decision about the elections. He said this while talking to reporters after visiting missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed’s Gulshan residence.The elections to the DSCC, the DNCC and the CCC will be held on April 28 simultaneously. The deadline for submission of nomination papers is March 29. The Election Commission announced the polls schedule on Wednesday.BNP wants not to leave the field open to the ruling Awami League without challenge. So it is planning to take part in the elections. Mahbubur Rahman said, “There are differences of opinion among the party men over the city corporations polls. Some BNP leaders think the party should not leave the field empty to the government to score alone. Some others think we should not join the polls as most BNP prospective candidates and the party men are facing false cases or in jail.”The UNB in an exclusive report published on Friday said, political observes believe BNP should join the elections to avoid its further isolation from the people and demonstrate its popularity.It said, the political observers said BNP can join the elections to make an exit route from its ongoing indefinite movement for parliamentary elections.Though the city corporation election is a non-partisan election according to the law, the polls have virtually turned out to be partisan ones major political parties extend their support to candidates.Prof Emajuddin, said, “It will be better for BNP if it goes to the polls.” He, however, claimed that the present situation is not an election-friendly one. “It is not pleasant that the polls are going to be held in the current situation. Even then there should be inclusive polls…any lopsided ones will be unexpected, as election in Bangladesh has always been a festival-like event since 1937,” he added.Vice Chancellor of National University Prof Dr Harun-Or Rashid said that BNP should participate in the elections if it wants to exercise democratic practices. “BNP made a strategic blunder by boycotting the January-5 national election. If BNP doesn’t join the city corporation polls, it will get isolated further from people, he said. He also said that the elections are an opportunity for BNP to get out of its isolation and rejuvenate its activists. Local government expert Dr Tofail Ahmed said that if BNP considers its participation in the elections as a strategy of their movement, it would be better for them. BNP’s movement is logical, but not its strategies, he added. He also said elections should be considered as the window of opportunity for both the two major political rival camps to break the prolonged political deadlock. He also said the government is also in crisis following the January-5 parliamentary elections that went largely uncontested. “If the government can restore confidence by holding the elections in free and fair manner, it’ll be comfortable for them,” he said. The election would be small beginning of a game changer in politics, he added.Former Election Commissioner M Shakhawat Hossain said that the elections will not be the game changer in the politics as winning or defeating by BNP in the polls will bring no change in the government. As the local body election, he said, the city corporation polls should be held in a non-partisan manner in line with the law. “Either the polls should be made partisan one changing the law or it should be held in a non-partisan manner.”Giasuddin Molla, a professor of Dhaka University’s Political Science department, said BNP should join the polls for two reasons — to make an exit point for itself from its ongoing movement and show its popularity which may intensify its movement for a snap election.
