Breaching the electoral code of conduct, thousands of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists have staged a massive showdown in the Sylhet metropolis as part of the campaign of the party-backed mayoral candidate in the upcoming city corporation elections.
Jamaat metropolitan unit’s chief Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, along with other party leaders, led the program that stretched from Bandarbazar to Ambarkhana on Sunday.
A street rally was also held during the showdown, which also caused severe gridlock in the areas.
Zubair is set to contend the city polls slated for July 30 as the independent mayoral runner from pro-Jamaat organization Nagorik Forum.
Jamaat is already at loggerheads with BNP over its decision to go ahead with their candidate. BNP also has 20-party alliance’s mayoral candidate – former Sylhet mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury – on the campaign trail already.
Both having a face-off in the polls, according to commentators, might give Awami League’s candidate Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran the upper hand.
According to Section 7(Ka) of the City Corporation (Electoral code of conduct) Rules 2016, candidates are only allowed to hold street rallies and informal meetings as part of their campaigns.
Sylhet city polls’ Returning Officer Alimuzzaman, claimed that police were informed about Jamaat’s showdown and the party’s supporters were dispersed right away.
“But we will take action if anyone submits any formal complaints in this regard,” he said, without further commenting on the code of conduct violation.
Witnesses said that there were no police personnel present in the city area during Jamaat’s hour-long showdown, which started around 11:30am.
Pro-Jamaat-e-Islami organization Nagorik Forum's independent mayoral candidate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair campaigns in Sylhet city on July 22, 2018 | Dhaka Tribune
Pralay Kumar Saha, the election information officer, said: “Candidates are allowed to campaign with only 20 to 25 people. What happened today with Jamaat’s showdown is a clear violation of the code of conduct.”
According to Jamaat sources, thousands of leaders and activists from different areas of Sylhet division, including Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj and other upazilas, had joined Sunday’s showdown.
The president of Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik’s (Shujan) Sylhet chapter, Faruk Mahmud Chowdhury, alleged that many mayoral and councillor candidates violated the electoral code of conduct in the past few days as the Election Commission was being negligent.
“The voters are becoming more scared about the situation, which could have been avoided had the commission taken measures regarding the submitted complaints,” he said.
However, Zubair defended their program, saying: “This was not a massive showdown. My supporters only showed up there to back up the campaign I was carrying out.”
Jamaat’s Sylhet city unit Nayeb-e-Ameer Fakhrul Islam also brushed off allegations of outsiders joining Zubair’s campaign, and refused to comment on the code violation issue.
According to Jamaat sources, the party, which is no longer registered with the Election Commission, has taken the Sylhet city polls very seriously after it failed to reach an understanding with BNP over choosing one candidate of the 20-party alliance.
A Jamaat activist also said that at least 15,000 leaders and activists were campaigning for Zubair in Sylhet. By rotation, two teams from every upazila across the division were taking part in the campaign.
Meanwhile, at least 12 central Jamaat leaders,including Secretary General Shafiqur Rahman and Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer Mujibur Rahman, visited the Sylhet city since Zubair started campaigning. But their visits were kept under wraps.
Confirming the matter, the party’s Sylhet unit Assistant Secretary Nurul Islam said many other central leaders would also visit Sylhet soon. “Their trips are being kept secret because of strategic reasons.”
