The port city voters are sceptical about the implementation of pledges made by contestants, especially the mayoral aspirants of Chittagong City Corporation election, since in the past they had noticed a huge gap between their manifestos and activities after taking office.
For this, the voters say they will exercise their franchise following thorough scrutiny of the candidates’ personal and political identities. They also suggest that a mayor has not got enough administrative power to implement the promises made in the manifestos.
As the election day nears, the voters have been discussing everywhere – from tea stall to offices – about the efficiency of the candidates, the overall election environment and the possible winner.
Nurul Alam, a masters student of Chittagong University’s public administration department, said: “Elections have become a tool of changing power only.
“After winning the election, the public representatives forget about their promises made before the election. Now I do not consider their promises as important.”
Another student of the same university’s international relation department Towkir Ahmed said there is a huge gap between the promises and activities of the elected representatives.
Omar Faruk, a businessman from Kazir Dewri area, said the mayoral candidates had mentioned only the plans, not how they would implement those. The voters hardly believe such words nowadays.”
Bahaddarhat resident Mobarak Hossain said most of the promises are never executed.
Former town planner Prof Ali Ashraf Chowdhury, head of civil engineering department of Southern University, told the Dhaka Tribune that distrust among the voters towards the candidates’ promises is increasing.
“It is also seen that most of the promises cannot be executed by the city mayor as the post has some limitations,” he said.
“The candidates sometimes deliberately make high-ambitious promises to draw attention of the voters while some others try to echo the peoples’ demands. But most of the promises are left unimplemented,” Prof Ashraf said.
By announcing such plans, he said the candidates may bag votes in their favour but their credibility do not sustain among the voters for long.
The 12 mayoral candidates formally and informally have announced a total 317 promises. Experts say most of the promises cannot be executed by a mayor.
According to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act amended in 2009, a city mayor with the assistance of his councillors can carry out 28 types of activities. Of the mayoral aspirants, only five had announced their manifestos formally while the others made promises during election campaigns.
The highest 71 promises were made by Sunni Nagarik Oikyo Parishad-backed MA Matin while Syed Sajjad Zoha made only one promise.
The two heavyweight mayoral contestants – immediate past mayor M Manjur Alam, backed by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, and AJM Nasir Uddin, supported by ruling Awami League – announced their manifestos highlighting on 54 and 36 points.
“It seems that the manifestos were not prepared by the candidates,” Prof Sikandar Khan, president of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik Chittagong chapter, said.
Also vice chancellor East Delta University, Prof Sikandar said: “It appears that most of the promises were included in the manifestos by think-tanks and guardians of the candidates. In some cases, the candidates may have no idea about the promises.
“As most of the pledges are out of a mayor’s jurisdiction, the candidates, if elected, will have to take responsibility to fulfil those.”
He suggested that the manifestos be made realistic.
Prof Dr Yihia Khan of Chittagong University’s political science department said about 30-40% promises cannot be implemented by the elected mayors. “But they show many reasons for their failure when they seeking votes for the next election.
“This is a common trend in our country and it has affected the political culture adversely for the long run.”