The Election Commission is not getting cooperation from local administration, law enforcers and Awami League leaders in holding free and fair polls in many upazilas, writes Pankaj Karmakar of The Daily Star on March 14. The commission, however, appears indifferent to this non-cooperation though it is empowered to recommend action against deviant election officials.
“In many cases, local administration and police don’t act in line with our directives. Rather, they work at the behest of local lawmakers and ruling party leaders,” an election commissioner told the paper, requesting anonymity. “Being public servants, they want to make the ruling party men happy,” he added.
Around a dozen EC officials echoed the views of the commissioner. Additional deputy commissioners of districts act as returning officers in upazila polls, and superintendents of police, in consultation with them, take steps to maintain law and order.
Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak denied the allegations of non-cooperation of the administration, law enforcers and ruling party men. He claimed that the commission has taken all measures to hold the upazila polls fairly and peacefully.
However, talking to the paper, a deputy secretary at the EC said the commission has found gross violation of electoral code of conduct and irregularities by ministers, state ministers and influential ruling party leaders.
In the first two phases of upazila polls, there were violations of code of conduct and irregularities in different upazilas of Sirajganj, Bhola, Noakhali, Chandpur, Jessore, Kushtia and some other districts, reported the paper.
“Whenever a minister or state minister interferes in an election and asks for favours from election officials for a particular candidate, it becomes difficult for administration officials and local police to turn down the demand,” said a senior assistant secretary at the EC.
During the second phase of upazila polls on February 27, ruling party men allegedly with the help of police captured some polling centres in Faridganj and Matlab north and south upazilas of Chandpur. On that day, law enforcers in Munshiganj Sadar upazila did not take any action against ruling party men when they occupied some polling centres there.
In the run-up to the upazila polls in Munshiganj, police raided houses of BNP leaders and activists to harass them, said EC officials. In Savar, more than 200 AL leaders and activists, led by the local lawmaker, allegedly occupied the election control room at Savar Upazila Complex while vote counting was going on. Despite repeated requests by the returning officer, police did not turn up. A team of Rapid Action Battalion went there around one and a half hours later to bring the situation under control.
EC officials said some returning officers made allegations against ruling party leaders and lawmakers over the phone. But whenever the EC asked them to file written complaints, the returning officers backed out.
As per the electoral law, the EC can recommend that the authorities suspend or transfer election officials for not complying with the commission’s directives. But the EC is yet to make any such move.