Candidates vaunt poverty

Affidavits of mayoral candidates for the forthcoming by-election to Dhaka North City Corporation show that they are poor, some having no car and some no house.
In previous other elections also, including general election, many candidates vaunted their poor economic status in their affidavits.
In some cases, wives of the candidates came out wealthier than the contestants though they (the candidates) are the key persons in the families. 
Good governance campaigners find information showing reduced income or property in the affidavits unrealistic and a deception.
They want Election Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission to scrutinise the information provided by the candidates.
Ruling Awami League mayoral candidate for DNCC M Atiqul Islam has declared in his affidavit that he has no car though he owns 16 business companies.
According to his affidavit submitted to Election Commission along with his nomination paper for contesting the DNCC by-poll, Atiqul has only Tk 87,000 cash in hand though his annual earning is about Tk 1.9 crore.
The affidavit also states that he has moveable and immoveable property worth about Tk 6 crore and his wife has property worth about Tk 3 crore.
It says that former Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Atiqul owns a house worth Tk 2.57 crore and Tk 50 lakh paid in advance to procure an apartment in the name of his wife Shyla Shagufta Islam.
Nationalist Democratic Movement candidate Bobby Hajjaj claims in his affidavit that he has no house in his or his wife’s name while he owns furniture worth only Tk 5,000.
He says that he has a car worth Tk 12 lakh and Tk 54.10 lakh in cash while his wife has Tk 45,000 in cash.
The annual income of Hajjaj is about Tk 3.39 lakh and he has 500 shares of different companies, the affidavit says.
In profession, Hajjaj is a university teacher.
National People’s Party candidate Anisur Rahman Dewan has no annual income though members of his family, who depends on him, have about Tk 1.20 lakh annual income, as per his affidavit.
It shows that he has Tk 30,000 in cash while his moveable property is worth Tk 2.30 lakh and his wife has a 900sq flat.
The affidavit of Progressive Democratic Party candidate Shaheen Khan also shows that he has no annual income though he has Tk 2.5 lakh in cash and moveable property worth Tk 15.20 lakh.
In his affidavit, independent mayoral candidate Muhammad Abdur Rahim claims to have Tk 3.82 lakh as annual income.
It shows that Rahim is facing eight criminal cases on different grounds and he was acquitted in three cases.
The by-election to DNCC is scheduled for February 28.
Former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Khan told New Age that ACC should start an inquiry against those who hid information in pubic documents.
He also said that EC should reject the affidavits of the candidates for hiding information and action should also be taken against them even if they were elected using deceptive information.
Former ACC chairman Ghulam Rahman said that scrutiny of the affidavits of the candidates by ACC was tough though a joint effort by ACC and EC could make the process easy.
He said that putting wrong information in the affidavits was a primary stage of corruption and it would make the electoral process questionable.
Candidates, parties and authorities concerned should pay more attention to the matter as ensuring a corruption-free society would not be possible without ensuring a corruption-free electoral process.
Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said that since long they had been demanding scrutiny of affidavits by EC and ACC.
He said such practice of hiding information in affidavits would prompt the officials of the local government bodies to engage in corrupt practices.
They said that information of the candidates should be made public by the EC to let people know what their representatives really were. 
On Tuesday, High Court Division issued a rule asking EC to explain in four weeks why it should not be directed to publish and distribute leaflets among the voters, containing all information mentioned by the election candidates in their affidavits.
The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam came up with the rule following a writ petition filed by rights organisation Law and Life Foundation.
The organisation filed the petition seeking the court’s order on EC to formulate guidelines to make public information of the candidates in different elections, petitioner’s lawyer Humayun Kabir Pallab told New Age.
In the petition, the organisation demanded a provision that EC must distribute leaflets among voters in each constituency, revealing information about the candidates, he said.
He said that if the voters were not aware about the candidates, they would not be able to choose the right representative and the election would not be fair.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net