The upcoming municipality polls will see many rebel candidates from both the Awami League and the BNP running for mayor’s office, as all aspirants – both party-endorsed and independent – finished handing in their nomination papers on the final day of submission.
However, the top brass from both Awami League and the BNP have already warned of expelling any rebel candidate who fails to withdraw their candidacy in due time.
But the parties said they have some dummy candidates in the race, in case their endorsed nominee failed to ensure election commission’s clearance to contest the polls.
As the deadline expired yesterday, most mayoral aspirants from different political parties as well as candidates for general councillor and reserved seats for women councillors filed nominations.
Although there were allegations that opposition candidates had been barred from submitting their nomination paper at different places, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz said the claims were not “totally true.”
“We heard that the rivals are barring candidates from submitting nominations in one or two places. We have checked on the matter. They are not totally true,” the commissioner said, adding that the allegations came from Matlab North municipality in Chandpur and Chittagong’s Raujan.
“The disturbances were not actually like that. There might have been some trivial accidents,” he said.
According to reports from our correspondents, the Awami League has around 120 rebel candidates, while the BNP has 60 rebel candidates in some 150 municipalities.
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif yesterday warned the party’s rebel candidates, that anyone violating the party decision will face the music.
“If anyone violates the party’s decision, they will face the maximum punishment; I mean expulsion for breaking the organisational discipline,” he told a press conference at the Awami League chief’s Dhanmondi political office.
Announcing the list of 234 AL-nominated mayoral candidates, he said there would be no Awami League rebel candidate in the election after December 13, the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
“Several candidates from Awami League have filed nominations in some municipalities for strategic reasons to avoid a vacuum. I can assure [you] there will be no rebel candidate after December 13,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the BNP camp, there are allegations that bribery and nepotism played part in nominating party candidates for mayoral posts. Deprived mayoral candidates staged a demonstration in front of the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office yesterday and chanted slogans against the central leaders.
In Rajbari municipality, there are allegations that former lawmaker Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam’s son Arnab Khaiyam got BNP’s blessing, even after confirming the candidacy of incumbent Mayor Tofazzel Hossain.
In Daudkandi municipality, KMI Khalil was given nomination from the BNP, but central leaders changed the decision at night and extended support to Nayeem Sarkar, known to be close to BNP Standing Committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain.
Deadline ends
Candidates in most places filed their nominations amid enthusiasm, as the deadline for the submission of nomination papers for elections in 235 municipalities expired at 5pm yesterday.
Talking to reporters at his Election Commission Secretariat office, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz said: “We think there will be no problem in holding a fair election. No untoward incident will take place. If anything happens, we will take stern action.”
Shah Nawaz said the appellate authorities will take steps if any nomination paper is cancelled illegally during the scrutiny.
According to the election schedule, the dates for scrutinising nomination papers are December 5 and 6, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 13.
As the municipal elections will partly be held along party line for the first time, more than half of 40 registered political parties are contesting the election and nominated the candidates for mayoral posts.
A political party registered with the Election Commission can nominate its candidate for only the mayoral post, not councillor posts, in each municipality.
