JUCSU election: Student orgs unable to field candidates for all posts

The Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JACSU) election is scheduled to take place on 11 September. On the same day, elections will also be held for the Hall Unions in the university’s 21 residential halls.

However, due to shortages of human resources and candidates, as well as students' disinterest in hall politics, no organisation could field candidates for all positions in the ormitories.

Many individuals are contesting as independents, with student organisations attempting to bring them into their fold. Nevertheless, the response has been less than expected.

Consequently, despite this election being held after a long gap of 33 years, the anticipated enthusiasm among students has not been observed.

According to university sources, Jahangirnagar University has 21 residential halls, 11 for male students and 10 for female students. Under the constitution of the Hall Union elections, each hall consists of 15 posts.

No student organisation has managed to field candidates for all of these positions. It has been reported, however, that the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) is likely to announce panels in three halls for male students.

Last Monday, the election commission published the draft list of candidates for the JUCSU election. For 25 JUCSU posts, 256 candidates were included in the draft list. Yesterday, Tuesday, the draft list for the Hall Union elections was also published. For the 315 posts across the 21 halls, with 15 positions in each hall, a total of 481 candidates have been listed.

In preparation for the JUCSU election, the Democratic Students’ Alliance and Islami Chhatra Shibir have already announced panels under different names. In addition, the Chhatra Dal and left-leaning organisations are expected to announce at least three more panels shortly.

However, despite having panels in JUCSU, none of these organisations have been able to field candidates for every position in the Hall Union elections.

Leaders and activists of the organisations have stated that the long-standing dominance of the Chhatra League in the halls, along with the practices of “guest room” and “mass room” culture, have contributed to students’ reluctance to engage in politics within the halls.

Furthermore, most candidates from the organisations are only willing to contest for the positions of Vice-President (VP), General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS), while showing little interest in other posts. As a result, organisations are unable to field candidates for all positions.

Among the 21 residential halls, no organisation, including Chhatra Shibir, the Democratic Students’ Alliance, or left-leaning groups such as the Chhatra Union, has been able to field candidates for all 15 posts in any hall.

Recently, Chhatra Shibir announced a panel under the name of the “Somonnito Shikkharti Jote” for the JUCSU election.

However, due to shortages of manpower and candidates, the organisation has not been able to announce any such panel in the hall elections. Instead, some of its members are contesting in selected posts within a few of the male halls, although no candidates have been nominated for the 10 halls for the female students.

In this regard, the President of Chhatra Shibir’s university unit, Muhibur Rahman, stated, “Our candidates are contesting in the dormitories for male students. However, in the halls for female students, there are no candidates from our student organisation. There are, nevertheless, a few individual candidates whom our panel will support.”

A similar situation exists within the Democratic Students’ Alliance, a student organisation formed after the mass uprising.

Although it has already announced a panel for the JUCSU election under the name ‘Students’ Unity Forum’, it has not nominated candidates for hall elections under this panel.

According to organisational sources, a few leaders and activists of the Democratic Students’ Alliance are contesting in some of the halls. However, they have no candidates for the Vice-President (VP) or General Secretary (GS) positions in the female halls. Instead, they are making efforts to enlist independent candidates contesting in the halls, though the response has not been encouraging.

In this regard, Arifuzzaman, Convener of the university unit of the Democratic Students’ Alliance, stated, “It is not possible to present a complete panel in every hall. However, in all halls, we have our leaders, activists and supported candidates. In six to seven male halls, our candidates are contesting for the top positions of VP and GS.”

For JUCSU, a separate panel may emerge under the name Solidarity for Unity, formed by a coalition of left-leaning organisations including a faction of the Students’ Union (Adri–Arko), Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance (one faction), Jahangirnagar Save Movement and several cultural organisations.

However, due to internal differences, they have not yet formally announced their panel for the JUCSU election. According to sources, they also cannot field candidates for all posts in any hall. Nevertheless, in a few halls, some candidates aligned with them are contesting.

On this matter, Adri Ankur, President of one faction of the University unit of Students’ Union, commented, “We are not presenting panels in the halls. However, many of our members are individually contesting in different halls.”

In addition, another panel may emerge from a coalition of another faction of the Students’ Union (Jahid–Tanzim), Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance (Mahfuz), Jahangirnagar Theatre and other organisations.

Yet, due to a shortage of candidates, they are unable to nominate for all 25 posts in the JUCSU election. Therefore, except for a few halls, they are not expected to have candidates in the Hall Union elections.

Furthermore, another independent panel may be formed under the leadership of Abdur Rashid, former Central Coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. However, reports suggest they also will not field any hall-based panels.

Yesterday afternoon, the draft candidate list for all 21 residential halls was published on the university’s website. An analysis of the hall-wise draft list provided by the election commission shows that in the 10 female halls, there are 137 candidates contesting for 150 posts.

In four of these halls, fewer than 15 candidates are running for the 15 available posts. Two halls have exactly 15 candidates each. Consequently, many positions are uncontested.

Among them, in Nawab Faizunnesa Hall, there is only one candidate for six posts, including VP and GS. As a result, these candidates will be elected without a vote.

Similarly, in Hall No. 15, Pritilata Hall, Fazilatunnesa Hall and Begum Sufia Kamal Hall, only one candidate is contesting for the VP position. Therefore, in these halls as well, the VP will be elected unopposed.

In this regard, Professor Mafruhi Sattar, election commissioner and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, told Prothom Alo, “For posts where there is only one candidate, meaning no opponent, those candidates will be declared elected on the day of the final candidate list announcement.”