How important was the Dhaka-17 election?

I am a voter of the Dhaka-17 constituency. Naturally, once the schedule for this by-election was announced, I was eager about this election. And I voted.

Due to my personal interests, after 2008 I only managed to vote in 2018. In 2014 there was no necessity for me to vote. The centre was near my house, at the DOHS Mohakhali BISC School. There were around over 3,300 voters here.

The Dhaka-17 constituency is considered to be an important one by many. It is not only that the upper and upper middle class people live in this area. There are areas in this constituency where the lower income working class voters live.

The army, air force and naval headquarters are in this area too. There is the densely populated area adjacent to the Rajanigandha Supermarket. There is the Defence Officers Housing Society of retired and serving (almost all retired now, actually) officers of the three armed forces. This is quite a unique constituency in Bangladesh.

The diplomatic zone is located here too and so they can directly observe the voting here.

The main reason for my eagerness about this election is that because I live in the cantonment area, I cannot vote in the city elections. This is the only election where I can cast my vote.

With this in mind, I went to cast my vote at the 17 July by-election, just after 3:00 pm. My objective was not just to cast my vote, but also to get an idea of the vote count. That’s why I chose that particular time.

As this so-called centre was ostensibly under vigil of the political party, particularly of the ruling party’s so-called monitoring committee (according to a statement of candidate Mohammad A Arafat), there was no party activitists to check or rough up voters as they entered. It was absolutely peaceful.

After I cast my vote, the presiding officer told me that till then (after 3:00 pm), 6.12 per cent of the votes had been cast. He estimated that within an hour, this may rise to 6.50 per cent at the most. But after I emerged from the centre, there were no other voters in sight. There were both male and female centres here.

Till 1:00 pm, the centres at Shaheen School and College and other centres of the cantonment and Manikdi were similarly bereft of voters. My acquaintances who voted at the Banani Bidyaniketan centre, had the similar experience.

Later, the independent candidate Ashraful Hossen alias Hero Alom was assaulted. From media reports, we learnt that he was attacked by ruling party activists and supporters who were all wearing the boat badge. The role of the police in the incident was unacceptable. It has not been learnt if the election commission has taken any measures under the RPO against the police at that centre for negligence of duty.

In my various earlier writings I had advised the election commission to have CCTV cameras not just inside the centres but at the entrances too. After all, keeping vigil at the entrance of the polling centre or the presence of any committee is contrary to the law. This leads to the frequent harassment of the voters of the rival camp. The voters are not comfortable. But it seems to have become a norm here, that if the elections are inclusive, then there will be unwarranted incidents and the voters will be too scared to come to the centres. Then towards the end, ballots will be stamped at will, as happened this time too.

The environment at the Dhaka-17 constituency was peaceful and calm.

This disinterest of the voters was overshadowed by the attack on Hero Alom. There was virtually no competition for the ruling party in this by-election. So there was no need for this despicable incident, particularly when the European Union pre-election observation team was in town.

The election commission’s role has been questioned. Unless there is a speedy investigation into the matter followed by action under the election laws, questions will also arise concerning the effectiveness of the election commission. The consequences of this incident should not be like that of Barishal or Gaibandha.

Questions have arisen over the voter turnout. According to the observers, around 6 to7 per cent of the votes were cast. The media has published reports about why the votes suddenly take an upward turn towards the end. A centre-wide analysis of the vote will make things clearer.

In my analysis, certain reasons came to mind as to why such an important constituency should have such a poor voter turnout:

1. Candidate Mohammad A Arafat is a meritorious and highly educated person. Even though we want such candidates, he is not a familiar face among the voters of this constituency, not even among his own party’s activists. He was never a politician in the streets. He was nominated in an ‘elitist’ manner from the top. Perhaps there were other political leaders here more in touch with the people.

2. There was no strong opponent in the election. And so this failed to draw in the voters. While no match for Arafat, Hero Alom did manage to create a stir. Due to the absence of the major opposition party, the national parliamentary polls have long been without contest. With no candidate of their liking or having opposition support, voter turnout dwindled.

3. As the by-election was held just a few months before the national parliamentary election, the voters, even the party supporter, lost interest.

4. Most importantly, a disinterest in the election has grown due to the absence of fair election and a collapse of the election system. This is extremely damaging to our democracy.

It is high time for introspection by those who were given or will be given responsibility by the election commission to conduct the election at the grassroots. I have said it before and I will say it again, Bangladesh’s forthcoming election has become complex and significant in the context of geopolitics. If a credible, transparent and inclusive election is not held, the country will fall into a state of uncertainty, which is unwarranted. This is not just a matter for the politicians. The civil society and people of all walks, as well as the bureaucrats, also must comprehend this.

* Dr M Sakhawat Hossain is an election analyst, former military officer and SIPG senior research fellow (NSU). [email protected]