EC turns a blind eye

The Election Commission and many returning officers (ROs) have turned a blind eye to the violations of electoral code of conduct by the ruling party-nominated mayoral aspirants on Thursday.

No actions were taken against the candidates even two days after the violation.

Rather, both the EC and the ROs claim they haven't received any such complaints, though some of the incidents were widely reported in the media.

Elections to 235 municipalities will be held on December 30. This will be the country's first local government polls on party lines. Mayor contenders will fight the battle of ballots with their party symbols. The councillor aspirants, however, will have to remain happy with non-party symbols.

Showing no regards for the electoral code, AL-backed mayor candidates staged showdowns and brought out processions and motorcades in many places before filing nomination papers on Thursday, according to news reports.

Besides, ruling party lawmakers in some places accompanied AL candidates during the submission of nomination papers. Some photographs of their doing so were published in the media as well.

But, the EC officials say they haven't even noticed it.

EC Secretary Sirazul Islam said, "We have not received any allegation of the violation of electoral code on that day. If we had received complaints, we would definitely have taken actions."

When his attention was drawn to the news reports, he said, "We usually take note of news reports on any irregularities. But in this case, we did not notice the issue."

Shafiqul Islam Shimul, AL lawmaker from Natore-2, accompanied the party-endorsed mayor hopefuls of Natore and Naldanga municipalities to RO Sharmin Akhter Jahan's office on Thursday.

But RO Sharmin, also the upazila nirbahi officer of Natore Sadar, thinks there was nothing wrong in this.

"As far as I know, MPs cannot join electoral campaigns that will start after the allocation of electoral symbols [on December 14]. There is no legal bar on MPs to accompanying a candidate during the submission of nomination papers," she told The Daily Star.

The electoral code, however, prohibits MPs from joining all sorts of election activities.

Dhaka-20 lawmaker MA Malek too went with the AL favourite in Dhamrai municipality to the RO's office.

However, Syed Shariful Islam, the RO, yesterday said he did not notice whether the MP had gone with the candidate.

Also on Thursday, Dhaka zila parishad administrator Hasina Dowla and Savar upazila parishad's panel chairman Parvej Dewan joined an electoral campaign for the AL's mayor aspirant in Savar, using government vehicles.

The code of conduct does not allow use of government facilities in electoral activities.

Savar RO Shah Alam said, "I did not find any such violation. Nobody filed any complaint either. Now that you [reporter] have raised the matter, I will look into it."

In Tarabo municipality of Narayanganj, AL-backed mayor candidate Hasina Gazi went to submit the nomination paper with a motorcade of over 150 buses and microbuses and more than 50 motorbikes.

Tarabo RO Lokman Hossain said he was aware of the incident. "I have directed the law enforcement agencies to investigate it. I will take action on the basis of their report."

All sorts of showdowns, processions and motor rallies are forbidden during submission of nomination papers.

Apart from these, AL candidates staged showdowns and brought out processions in some other places, including Golapganj, Kanaipur and Jakiganj of Sylhet; Harinakunda and Shailkupa of Jhenidah; Madhobdi of Narsingdi; Sreepur of Gazipur; eight municipalities in Tangail; Munshiganj and Mirkadim of Munshiganj and Jakiganj of Sylhet, according to news reports.

RO Fazle Azim of Munshiganj municipality said, "Until now, I knew nothing about violation of the code. If anyone files a complaint, we definitely will take actions."

Candidates can face a fine of Tk 50,000 or a six-month's jail term or both and even lose their candidacies for flouting the electoral code of conduct.

Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain thinks the EC should not keep waiting for formal complaints.

"Instead, it should play a proactive role in taking actions [for violation of the code] on the basis of news reports as the media plays the role of a watchdog during elections," he told The Daily Star.