Unique significance of upazila

elections
Mizanur Rahman Shelley
IN an important sense local self governments form the building blocks of a democratic nation. From that view point, the heightened interest
and enthusiasm for ongoing upazila elections in Bangladesh is no surprise. Nevertheless, the surge of popular participation in these polls is a
matter of note for both the political class and the common men. This has to be judged in the context of the recently held national elections on
January 5. On account of the main opposition party BNP and its ally's resistance to the elections on the question of poll time government and
their consequent boycott, in substance, made the elections flawed and incomplete. Critics call it a virtual denial of the right to franchise for
the majority of voters.
The ruling party, the Awami League, and its allies resolutely withstood the opposition movement and agitation. They used various strategies
and the government law and order machinery to hold the elections as scheduled. They said that though the voter turnout was comparatively
low, the elections were constitutionally obligatory. It was also mandated by the constitution, as amended by the 15th Amendment, that the
interim government led by the ruling party and not a non-party, non-elected caretaker government should be in the chair during the national
elections. The opposition BNP, its allies and segments of the civil society strongly opposed the government view.
As is well known, months of political strife, violence and unrest caused non-participation of the majority of voters in the national elections.
Many critics within and outside the country hold that no more than 5%-20% of the electorate exercised their franchise. According to
authorities, however, 40% of the voters participated in 146 constituencies where elections were contested. The other 154 seats in the
parliament were filled by members elected without contest.
It is no wonder then that the great majority of the voters who could not join the national elections would participate enthusiastically in local
government elections such as the upazila elections. There are other important reasons why these polls are invested with a greater significance
in today's Bangladesh. The faulty elections to the Jatiyo Sangsad left a gap of credibility, uncertainty and doubt in the nation's democratic
politics. Nobody knows the true extent of support that each of the principal political parties, the Awami League and the BNP, enjoys.
In our fledgling democracy national elections are the only effective instrument to measure the relative strength of the political parties.
Unfortunately, the 2014 polls which brought Awami League back to power under its own interim government could not prove to be above
controversy or doubt. Hence, politicians, pundits and political analysts both at home and abroad are now busy examining the results of the
upazila polls.
Although less than half the upazila elections have been held so far, their results are yielding apparently satisfying harvest for competing
parties. It is known that officially these elections are not held under party banner. It is equally well known that in all these polls candidates
usually represent one party or another. This time the party theme has been much more loudly played. Out of the 214 elections held up to
March 7, as many as 97 seats of chairman have been won by the BNP. On the other hand, Awami League, the ruling party, bagged 78 seats.
The Jamaat-e-Islami does not any more have the Election Commission's registration; it has also been openly denounced by the ruling party
and its allies as religious militants often resorting to terror and violence. Still, its members have also so far won 20 seats in these 'non-party'
elections. There are independent winners too.
All this bears vital political significance. The ruling party has long been saying that the major opposition party BNP is incapable of mobilising
popular support for itself. It has also pinpointed BNP's alliance with Jamaat and the pre-poll violent agitations as the principal causes of its
failure to get people's support for its polls-resistance movement. The Awami League and its civil society spokespersons have further talked of
the decline of BNP's popularity. The upazila elections may cause them to have a closer look at the ground situation.
On the other hand, the BNP has evident cause to rejoice. The results of the upazila elections held so far may sound like music to BNP's ears. It
may also work like a soothing balm as BNP continues to lick the wounds inflicted by the crafty strategic moves of Awami League's hitherto
successful power politics. However, it has to carefully and industriously continue its work. BNP leaders and party men should remember that
more than half of the upazilas still await elections. They should further consider the fact that the Awami League is in power. In more than five
years of its rule, Awami League has effectively set up a patron-client relationship with the major segments of civil bureaucracy, business,
intellectuals and the mass media. There is also a strong basic one-third of popular votes in the Awami League bank, which has stood the test
of time. BNP and its allies have good reasons to feel hopeful about the future. The path is not going to be rosy. In politics, as in life, nothing
succeeds like success. As in Tudor England so also in today's Bangladesh nothing can succeed but success.

The writer, founder Chairman of Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh (CDRB) and Editor quarterly Asian
Affairs was a former teacher of political science in Dhaka University and former member of the erstwhile Civil Service of
Pakistan (CSP) and former non-partisan technocrat cabinet minister.