City elections: Lessons learnt

There had been allegations of widespread anomalies and irregularities in the last city elections. The ruling party has been accused of massive rigging and fake vote stuffing in the ballot boxes. The election commission has completely lost whatever credibility it had and proved itself thoroughly incapable of conducting a fair poll. According to many, it needs to be dissolved and reconstituted by capable people. I am sure, there are plenty of such people in the country. We can take a few lessons from our neighbouring country India and see how Indian election commission works.
We cannot expect the democracy to survive without a strong and neutral election process. It is sad and unfortunate that whoever comes to power attempts to consolidate its power through illegal means bypassing the peoples' mandate. I am glad that the proceedings of the city elections have made it amply clear that a free, fair and credible election is not possible under a partisan government. The ruling party has won forcibly all the seats but they have lost their credibility to the world at large. It has ruined its own image and also tarnished the country's image aboard.

Sakibul Alam
Gopibagh, Dhaka.