47 chairmen get less than 20pc votes

At least 47 chairman candidates have emerged victorious securing less than 20 per cent of votes in the third phase of the ongoing upazila election and seven of those contestants even bagged less than 10 per cent of votes, analysis of the poll results obtained from the election commission shows.

Voting was held in 87 upazilas in the third phase of the upazila parishad election on Wednesday, 29 May.

With a low voter turnout, chairman candidates are elected with fewer votes in most upazilas. Eighty-nine out of 156 winning chairman candidates secured less than 20 per cent of votes during the second phase of the upazila polls.

The election commission complied the poll results from all three phases of the upazila parishad elections on Thursday. Voter turnout was 36.01 per cent in the first phase, 37.57 per cent in the second phase and 36.24 per cent in the third phase. This time, voter turnout was the lowest over the last 15 years.

Md Mostafa Mohsin of Jatiya Party won the chairman post from Sundarganj, Gabainsha in the third phase of the upazila polls and he is one of seven winning candidates bagging less than 10 per cent of votes. According to the election commission, there are 398,579 voters, and 100,557 voters cast ballots. Mostafa Mohsin bagged 27,119 votes or 6.80 per cent of total votes.

Shahed Shariar was elected chairman of Beguumganj upazila, Noakhali. There are 480,111 votes in the upazila, but the winning candidate secured 36,677 votes, which is 7.63 per cent of total votes.

There were 406,163 voters in Sadar upazila of Satkhira. Voter turnout was 23.07 per cent in the upazila and winning chairman candidate Moshiur Rahman shared 7.68 per cent securing 31,196 votes.

Besides, Shubashis Poddar in Sadar upazila of Bogura, Mohammad Haroon Or Rashid in Fulbaria, Mymensingh, Abul Kashem in Beanibazar, Sylhet and Tofazzal Hossain in Sadar upazila, Tangail were also elected chairman bagging less than 10 per cent of votes.

Voting was held in Feni’s Sadar, Sonagazi and Daganbhuiyan in the third phase of the upazila polls. Voter turnout was high as well as leaders of Awami League and Jubo League won the polls with a huge margin in these three upazilas. Only these three upazilas witnessed more than 35 per cent of voter turnout during the third phase of the polls.

However, Prothom Alo correspondent in Feni said voter presence was thin at most of the polling stations in all three upazilas, raising the question on the poll results. The victory of Awami League’s Sadar upazila general secretary with a margin of over 200,000, in particular, stirred discussion. In Sadar upazila, Shusjen Chandra Shil bagged 213,892 while his nearest opponent Manjurul Amla bagged merely 7,309 votes

Jubo League’s, upazila unit president Didarul Kabir was elected chairman with 117,000 votes in Daganbhuiyan while Awami League’s upazil unit general secretary Zahir Uddin Mahmud won in Sonagazi bagging 86.171 votes.

Pirganj of Thakurgaon saw the highest 58.83 per cent of voter turnout while Sadar upazila of Lakshimpur registered the lowest 13.64 per cent of turnout.

Political analysts said people had lost interest in all kinds of elections – parliamentary or local government polls, and that has been reflected in the upazila election after the 12th parliamentary election. They opined that lower trust in the electoral system and the election commission are the main reasons.

Shushasoner Jonno Nagorik's (SHUJAN) secretary Badiul Alam Majumder told Prothom Alo that there is perhaps no legal barrier to the chairman of the local government bodies being elected with few votes. Still, the question remains on how much legality they have in an ethical sense. He added that this poll result reflects people’s low confidence in the election.