Internal conflicts may hinder the campaigns of the top two mayoral candidates, out of five, contesting the Comilla City Corporation (COCC) polls on June 15.
BNP’s Monirul Haque Sakku, the two-time mayor of the COCC who has been expelled from the party, will face a tough contest this time as he faces a rebel candidate.
On the other hand, the ruling party has nominated Arfanul Haque Rifat, a close confidant of local lawmaker AKM Baharuddin Bahar, aimed at snatching victory for the first time.
The campaigns formally start on Friday as the Election Commission is set to allocate symbols among the mayor and councilor candidates.
‘Previous defeats were sabotage’
According to sources in the local Awami League, Bahar had helped Sakku in the first COCC elections in 2012 because of his rivalry with Principal Afzal Khan.
The senior politician got the nomination but was defeated by a margin of over 35,000 votes. In 2017, the Awami League nominated Khan’s daughter Anjum Sultana Sima for the mayoral race. She also lost to Sakku due to the party’s internal conflict.
Later, the party made Sima a member of parliament from a reserved seat.
This time, Sima and her brother Masud Parvez Imran were among 14 who collected nomination papers. Sima said that she would resign from parliament if backed by the party.
But the party picked Rifat – someone from outside Khan’s family first time in a decade.
As Imran’s nomination paper was cleared by the Election Commission, the party asked him to withdraw his candidature as part of its stance not to allow any rebel candidate in any local government elections.
Therefore, Sakku will not get the blessings of MP Bahar this time and may also face non-cooperation from local and central BNP leaders and activists, as the party refuses to take part in elections under the incumbent government.
A one-man army
In 2012, failing to get the party’s nomination ahead of the first elections, Sakku resigned from the post of joint secretary general of the BNP’s Comilla district (south) unit. Later, party chief Khaleda Zia returned his position and supported him in the 2017 elections, Sakku told Dhaka Tribune.
After his resignation on May 19, when the Election Commission approved his nomination paper, Sakku was expelled from the party for life.
On May 21, the BNP asked its leaders and activists in Comilla not to campaign for the expelled leaders and the others who are contesting the polls violating the party’s decision.
Yet, Sakku urged the party’s leaders and activists to help him become the mayor of Comilla for the third consecutive term.
But a stronger Awami League candidate this time and division within the local BNP will make things tough for Sakku, according to party sources.
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The city unit BNP is divided into two groups – one led by Sakku and the other by General Secretary of the district (south) unit BNP Aminur Rashid Yasin.
Party leaders close to Yasin allege that Sakku abused power to plunder public money from different development projects and enjoyed impunity since 2009 by the blessings of MP Bahar.
On the other hand, Yasin’s followers were implicated in political cases and targeted by the rivals while Sakku and his supporters were saved by the lawmaker.
Sakku’s rival within the party is Comilla city Sewchchasebak Dal President Nizam Uddin Kaiser, who resigned from the party on May 19 to fight the polls as an independent candidate. A businessman by profession, Kaiser was also the assistant organizing secretary of the party’s executive committee.
Asked how he would conduct the election campaign without party supporters, Sakku said: “This election is very important to maintain our existence. I hope all the leaders and activists will be by my side.
“I want to work for the people…my party leaders will be with the people on my behalf. No decision by the party can stop them.”
On his last day in office on May 16, Sakku said that he had implemented 65% of his pledges made in 2017 about solving the problems of the city.
“I’ll complete the tasks if the voters elect me again. Otherwise, I’ll resume political activities,” he told reporters before leaving the COCC office.
Tough for AL too?
After Rifat’s nomination was confirmed on May 15, a section of the local leaders started expressing resentment.
They alleged that Rifat had long been criticized within the party for his involvement with drug cartels and arms smugglers, and in tender manipulation and illegal extraction of sand from the Gumti River, thanks to the blessings of lawmaker Bahar.
But Bahar and central Awami League leaders have asked all to work for the party-nominated candidate keeping aside the issues of resentment and internal conflicts.
According to local Awami League sources, the rivalry between Principal Afzal and MP Bahar had benefited Sakku in the past. But things will be different this time.
Hype against Rifat eroding
An intelligence agency report from 2018 created much hype after Rifat’s nomination was confirmed. It listed Rifat as the top patron of drug cartels in the district.
Awami League Organizing Secretary of Chittagong division Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood Swapon MP explained that the report had been prepared being motivated by local politics.
“Later, several government agencies conducted in-depth investigations based on this preliminary report, but they didn’t find any allegations against Rifat,” Swapon told Dhaka Tribune recently.
AL pledges unity
After failing to get the party ticket this time, Sima said she would work to ensure the victory of the party-nominated candidate.
“Real Awami Leaguers don’t indulge in a grouping. Everyone knows what happened in the last two elections. Now, if we reciprocate the way they non-cooperated earlier, then there will be no difference between us,” she told Dhaka Tribune.
On Thursday, Sima’s brother Masud Parvez Imran, a member of the central Awami League sub-committee and director of FBCCI, said that he would work for the Boat symbol as directed by party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Office Secretary of AL’s Comilla city unit Shiv Prasad Roy said: “We’ve always accepted the party’s decision. We campaigned for the party’s candidates in the past, but the voters didn’t accept us.
“But this time, Arfanul Haque Rifat’s name was proposed by the party leaders from all the 27 wards of the city corporation. Since there’s no feud among us, we hope to win this time.”
