Officers\\\' Club election and a few questions

The biennial election to the executive committee of the Officers' Club Dhaka took place recently. Officers' Club is a prestigious and traditional institution located at a posh area of the city. Membership of the club is restricted to senior officers of the government, that is to say, all the members are highly educated, well placed in the society, command respect and position, have conscience and are conscientious. Voters as well as the candidates are more or less known to each other and hence there is very little need of campaigning or impressing the voters. Against this backdrop it was expected that the publicity and canvassing for the upcoming election would take place in a quiet and refined manner.

In most of the cases it was noticed that exaggerations were made in the canvassing process. The leaflets and handbills, brochures and souvenirs distributed in huge quantities were quite costly. Even gifts like desk calendars and tiny bouquets reached the voters' home. These indicate that the candidates spent handsome amount of money for electioneering. More worrisome is that many candidates were seen using their official telephones to reach the voters at the cost of public money and office time. It was also found that subordinate officers of the candidates were being used for campaigning.

Will the learned public servants of the republic realise how much unjustified is what they did in the name of campaign?

Naznoor Doulat Nessa

Shahjahanpur, Dhaka.