A total of 348 chairmen candidates have so far been elected unopposed in the ongoing union parishad (UP) elections as voting was not required in chairmen posts in those UPs for want of more than one candidate.
In some of these UPs, voting did not take place in other posts too.
This has made a new record in the number of public representatives elected unopposed.
In six phases, around four thousand UPs are going to the polls. Of them, elections have taken place in 3755 UPs in the first five phases. People could not vote to elect the chairmen to their choice in 348 of these UPs, which is 9.26 per cent of the total UPs where voting is finished.
The number might increase further as the deadline for submitting the nomination form in the sixth phase is not over yet.
There is no legal bar to declare a candidate winner if there are no other contestants in any polls. But winning polls unopposed by such a large number of candidates have raised eyebrows.
The tendency to get elected uncontested increased in the country following the tenth general election held in 2014. A total of 153 members of parliament out of 300 were elected unopposed as BNP and other major opposition parties boycotted the tenth parliamentary polls.
This trend continued in the local body elections too and getting elected uncontested has almost become a norm in some parts of the country. Almost all the candidates elected unopposed are backed by the ruling Awami League.
Cumilla’s Laksam upazila and Chattogram’s Raozan upazila have hogged the headline most for getting unopposed winner people’s representatives. Although 14 UPs of the Raozan upazila went to the polls, no voters could cast their votes as all chairmen, members and women members (reserved) were elected unopposed.
All the winners are known as supporters of Awami League MP ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury. While the scene is staggering, it is nothing new in Raozan where ruling party candidates in 11 UPs out of 14 were elected unopposed in 2016 too. In 2019 upazila elections, Raozan got all chairman, vice chairman and woman vice chairman elected uncontested.
The people of cumilla’s Laksam, the constituency of local government minister Tajul Islam, also got a similar experience. No voting was needed in five UPs in the upazila.
The minister, however, at a programme on Sunday claimed that no one has been forced over candidacy in the elections in his constituency.
Elections in Roazan and Laksam also drew flak in the election commission itself. Election commissioner Mahbub Talukdar on 14 November told an event rather sarcastically, “Cumilla’s Laksam and Chattogram’s Raozan have set a model of ideal election in the world.” Referring to the trend of getting elected unopposed, Mahbub further said where there is no contest, there is no election.
11 out of 12 UPs of Sirajganj’s Kazipur upazila, 21 in Feni’s 41 UPs and 43 in Bagerhat’s 74 UPs got unopposed chairmen.
Other than chairmen posts, a total of 581 member and women member candidates were elected unopposed in the third to fifth phase election. Over 100 candidates in member and women member posts were elected unopposed in the first two phases of elections.
Awami League’s joint general secretary Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif told Prothom Alo that they do not encourage the trend of being elected unopposed and want voting to take place in every election.
He, however, said that rule to declare a candidate winner in absence of other candidates can be found in every democratic country in the world.
UP election took place under the party symbol for the first time in 2016. According to the EC secretariat, a total of 4104 UPs went to the polls in six phases that year. Of those, 207 UPs got chairmen unopposed. Awami League’s main rival BNP took part in that election. The number of unopposed winners increased this year as BNP is not contesting the polls. Also, allegations are there that independent candidates in many places were forced to withdraw their candidacy.
Upazila parishad election in 2019 also saw a good number of uncontested winners. A total of 111 upazilas out of 470 got chairmen without any voting.
In the UP election this year, 71 chairmen were elected unopposed in the first phase, 77 in the second, 100 in third, 48 in fourth and 52 in fifth phase election, according to the EC.
Election commissioner Rafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo that EC has nothing to do in this regard. They have to declare a single candidate winner if there are no other candidates. The precedence of winning unopposed in parliament election is there too.
He said EC takes steps and will take steps if anyone is forced to withdraw candidacy under duress.
He also said not only are Awami League candidates, but independent candidates are also winning unopposed in some places.
Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik’s secretary Badiul Alam Majumder told Prothom Alo it should be understood why people are not contesting in polls. Possible candidates are evicted off the electoral field in various ways in different places and in many cases fielding candidacy is risky.
Local MPs and ministers also force people to withdraw candidacy, he added.
Badiul Alam Majumder said local government bodies are of immense importance for people’s wellbeing but this institution is being destroyed. This will not bode well for anyone.
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Galib Ashraf.