The new Election Commission (EC) led by former bureaucrat Kazi Habibul Awal is facing an acid test through conducting the polls to Comilla City Corporation (COCC) on Wednesday. The elections are the first to be held on the watch of the new EC.
Though polls are being held in six municipalities and 135 union parishads (UPs), the third election to the COCC, which was constituted in 2011, has generated much hype across the country due to some remarks by senior politicians and EC officials regarding the violation of the electoral code of conduct by a ruling party MP and the candidates during the campaign.
Speculations on the outcome of the elections have also been the staple of conversations with two-time mayor Monirul Haque Sakku facing a stronger contestant from the ruling Awami League this time. By the way, the BNP has expelled him for life as he decided to contest the polls in defiance of the party’s stance.
Moreover, local lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar, who was believed to be behind Sakku’s victories in 2012 and 2017, has been campaigning for party-nominated candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat.
Sakku’s rival within the party is Comilla city Sewchchasebak Dal President Nizam Uddin Kaiser, who resigned from the party on May 19 to contest the polls as an independent candidate.
Since the BNP is not formally participating in the election, Sakku and Kaiser are contesting with the table clock and horse symbols.
The voting will take place through EVMs from 8am to 4pm at more than 100 polling centres amid tight security. There are some 229,920 voters under 26 wards of the city corporation.
The mock voting organized on Monday ahead of the polls generated a low turnout.
To ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the elections, the authorities have deployed 27 magistrates and 3,608 members of different law enforcement agencies.
Moreover, checkpoints have been set up in at least 75 places in the city.
EC’s strength questioned
Earlier, the EC warned Rifat after he participated in a party meeting violating the electoral code of conduct, and a mobile court fined him Tk10,000 for sticking posters on vehicles.
Kaiser was fined Tk50,000 twice for carrying out campaigns with live animals, while a supporter of Sakku was penalized Tk1,000 for using drums.
Between May 28 and June 7, mobile courts realized Tk277,000 as fines in different areas of the city.
Last week, the EC asked the lawmaker to leave the area as per the election code. But he refused to comply with the order.
On Monday, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Ahsan Habib Khan said: “He is a lawmaker from the ruling party, and if he cannot obey the law himself, then what can we expect from him? We sent him a letter, and he has humiliated himself by not following our orders.”
The EC’s helplessness about the ruling party MP’s activities has created resentment among other mayoral candidates.
Independent candidate Kaiser asked the chief election commissioner to resign and submitted an application to the returning officer requesting that the election results be handwritten as well as published in print.
During their campaigns, the candidates were at loggerheads with each other by raising allegations of corruption and involvement in criminal activities. Now the voters will decide their fate.
Chance for Rifat
While Sakku is contesting the polls to secure a hat-trick win, it is a challenge for the Awami League to break Sakku’s winning streak with Rifat, who is a close confidante of MP Bahar.
Local Awami League leaders said Rifat’s chance of winning the polls was higher this year compared to the two candidates who had conceded to Sakku in 2012 and 2017.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Rifat said: “I am contesting this election with the boat symbol, which is the symbol of Bangabandhu and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The vote for the boat will be added to the account of the prime minister. I am confident about winning.”
On the other hand, Sakku told journalists on Tuesday that he had completed 70% of his promised development activities as mayor. He hoped that the voters would give him another chance to serve them.
The MP’s wife, Meherunnesa Bahar, gave a response to the EC’s stance at a press conference on Tuesday. She said: “What will he [Bahar] do? He is a lawmaker and resident of this city. He is not participating in the election campaign by obeying the laws of the EC.
“It’s not fair that he cannot live in his own house because of the local election.”