On the eve of the first ever partisan municipality elections in the country, the Awami League and BNP yesterday sent their own delegations to the Election Commission to complain against each other.
The BNP first went to the EC and alleged that at least 5,000 of its workers had been arrest in the last six weeks and around 300 were injured in attacks by ruling party men.
Hours later, the Awami League sent its own delegation who accused the commission of being biased towards the BNP and acting like a “stepmother” towards the ruling party.
However, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad told reporters in briefing that allegations raised by the two parties do not matter to the commission.
The only thing they are thinking about now is holding a free and fair election, the CEC said.
The six-member BNP delegation was led by the party’s standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan, also a former minister. The Awami League team on the other hand was headed by Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif, general secretary of the party.
After a meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) in the afternoon, Moyeen Khan told reporters that their party was ready to accept any results if the polls are held freely and fairly.
“There should not be any distortion of information regarding the actual voter turnout figure at polling centres,” Khan said.
He also claimed that leaders and activists of the BNP were the victims of more than 90% of pre-polls violence.
Khan suggested that these polls was a chance for the Election Commission to clear the doubts centring its ability to hold fair elections.
Later in the afternoon, after their own meeting with the CEC, Hanif told reporters: “The Election Commission is biased towards the BNP. They [the commission] has not been cordial with the Awami League.”
According to Hanif, the Awami League delegation has asked the commission to first verify any complaints from the BNP and then take actions against the ruling party men.
The delegation also notified the EC about the recent attacks on two ruling party-backed mayoral candidates in Rajshahi and Narayanganj. He also said: “There is no level-playing field.”
As the BNP is not in parliament, their top leaders, including former prime minster, ministers and lawmakers, are taking part in campaigning, but the Awami League’s top brass, many of whom are part of the government, cannot do so, Hanif explained.
Although the BNP has been promising to stay in the election battle until the end, Hanif thinks otherwise and so he urged their arch rivals to not back out.
