The new Election Commission led by former bureaucrat Kazi Habibul Awal has started to feel the heat of their first test – holding local government body polls peacefully on June 15.
The elections to Comilla City Corporation (CCC) – a BNP stronghold – will not be easy as violent incidents between rival groups have occurred several times in the past few weeks over establishing supremacy.
Outgoing mayor Monirul Haque Sakku will contest the polls for a hat-trick win – no matter whether he gets the support of the BNP or not – with 14 party leaders and businesspersons seeking the ruling party's support.
Monirul Haque Sakku Dhaka TribuneIn 2012, Sakku defeated veteran Awami League leader Afzal Khan by over 30,000 votes in the first election, and his daughter Anjum Sultana Sima in 2017 by a close margin of 10,000 votes – at a time when the Awami League has been in power since 2009. Comilla city has over 230,000 voters.Sima later became a member of parliament from a reserved seat, but she is among the 14 nomination seekers aiming to break Sakku's win streak.
After collecting her nomination paper on Wednesday, Sima told Dhaka Tribune: “If my party chooses me, I will resign from parliament.”
While the BNP and other opposition parties have been refusing to take part in any elections under the Sheikh Hasina-led government, holding the polls scheduled for June 15 is likely to be a challenging task for Kazi Awal's EC.
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It will also be a challenge because the EC will have to conduct elections to six municipalities and 135 union parishads on the same day to prove its competency and willingness to ensure fairness.
The ruling party too wants to ensure the victory of its candidate, to be finalized on Friday, through a peaceful and debate-less participatory election in Comilla, as they did in the case of Narayanganj city polls in January.
In the NCC polls, BNP-backed candidate Taimur Alam Khandakar participated as an independent candidate as the party expelled him for disobeying central command.
Sakku too had resigned from the post of joint secretary general of the Comilla district (south) unit BNP ahead of the 2012 elections.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan said: “We haven't changed our stance regarding boycotting all elections under the Awami League government."
On the other hand, 14 mayoral candidates have collected the nomination forms to get the ruling party ticket for the polls, according to Deputy Office Secretary Sayem khan.
“The local government nomination board meeting of the Awami League chaired by party President Sheikh Hasina will make a decision on Friday,” said Sayem.
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According to party insiders, the Awami League high-command will have to choose a candidate from two important families in Comilla – Afzal Khan and AKM Bahauddin Bahar MP.
The son of Khan, who died last year. Masud Parvej Khan also collected his nomination paper. Masud is a director of the country's apex trade body FBCCI.
On the other hand, Comilla-6 lawmaker Bahauddin, also the president of Comilla city Awami League, is seeking party nomination for Arfanul Haque Rifat, general secretary of the city unit.
Rifat said he was hopeful of getting the boat symbol. "The Awami League's city unit, 27 ward units and other associated bodies of the party have recommended my name,” he told Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.
Now the grassroots level leaders and activists are eagerly waiting for the party chief's decision.
Abdur Rahman, a nomination board member of the Awami League, told this correspondent: “In some sensitive cases, our party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself takes the decision.”
