15 rebels defeat AL candidates, 21 elected uncontested [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

15 rebels defeat AL candidates, 21 elected uncontested

Local December 29, 2016

Ruling Awami League rebels defeated party-backed chairman candidates in 15 districts and 23 AL-backed chairman candidates own the maiden indirect elections to zila parishads on Wednesday.
Elections to the positions of chairman in two districts – Bogra and Kushtia – were stayed by the High Court and AL-backed chairman candidates were elected uncontested in 21 districts.
The three hill districts in Chittagong Hill Tracts remain out of the purview of the Zila Parishad Act 2000, under which the elections were held in the 61 districts.
AL rebels own the polls defeating party-backed chairman candidates in Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Gaibhanda, Lalmonirhat, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Narail, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Rajbari, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Sunamganj and Brahmanbaria.
AL-backed chairman candidates were elected uncontested in Dhaka, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Kishoreganj, Tangail, Faridpur, Habiganj, Feni, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Thakurgaon, Jaipurhat, Natore, Sirajganj, Jessore, Bagerhat, Jhalakati, Bhola, Netrakona and Munshiganj.
No election took place in Feni and Bhola as all 42 candidates for the positions of chairman and members were elected uncontested in the districts.
Major political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jatiya Party and Communist Party of Bangladesh boycotted the election saying that the election was meaningless and unconstitutional while the local government experts termed the election ‘basic democracy’ held during the regime of military dictator Ayub Khan before the independence of Bangladesh.
The Zila Parishad Act 2000 stipulates indirect elections with only elected local government representatives casting their vote to elect a chairman, 15 general members and nine female members for each zila parishad.
At a post-poll briefing, the chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said that the zila parishad election was held in a fair and peaceful manner.
‘We did not give any chance to anybody for committing irregularities and an initiative was taken so that influential people could not hamper the election as per the electoral code of conduct,’ he said.
Addressing a post-poll press conference, Awami League joint general secretary Dipu Moni said that the party was happy with the elections as casting of votes completed countrywide peacefully.
The election would strengthen the local government system and also the democratic system of the country, she said.
Expressing reaction about the polls, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they did not know whether any election was held in fair manner under Awami League and the incumbent Election Commission and even the indirect zila parishad polls could not be held in fair manner.
He was talking to journalists after visiting ailing Jatiya Ganatantrik Party president Shafiul Alam Prodhan at a city hospital.
Fakhrul said that BNP boycotted the zila parishad polls as it was contradictory to the constitution.
New Age district correspondents reported that the elections were held almost peacefully except in Magura.
In Magura, at least five people including two polling agents were injured in two incidents of election violence.
Local people said that AL’s union parishad chairman Kabir Hossain and his activists attacked followers of sadar upazial AL leader and former union parishad chairman Abdul Mannan’s brother and two others after the polls ended.
They said that during the polling, another AL union parishad chairman Mashiar Rahman and his activists beat two polling agents chairman candidate Kutub Ullah.
The injured people were admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital.
According to the commission, 146 people contested for the 61 positions of chairman, 806 for 549 positions of members reserved for women and 2,986 for 915 positions of general member.
After formation of the zilla parishad in 2000, the government appointed administrators to 61 district councils, mostly senior local leaders of the ruling Awami League in December 2011.