City polls not fair, free: TIB

The just-concluded three city corporation polls witnessed massive irregularities and violation of electoral rules as the Election Commission (EC) failed to discharge its responsibilities properly, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said Monday.
"The polls in three city corporations were not held in free, fair and impartial manner as contestants spent money much higher than the allowable limit," the local chapter of the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) said in its research findings.
The TIB released the findings at a press conference at its city head office on the day nearly 20 days after the elections to the three key local government bodies in Dhaka and Chittagong.
TIB Trustee Board Member and former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda, TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, its Deputy Executive Director Dr Sumaiya Khair and its Director (Research and Policy) Mohammad Rafiqul Hasan were, among others, present at the briefing.  
Presenting the research findings, TIB Programme Manager (Policy and Research) Rezaul Karim said mayoral aspirants in Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) spent more money than those contesting in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
Quoting from the report, he said mayoral candidates in the CCC on an average spent Tk 27 million (one million is equivalent to Tk 10 lakh), in DSCC Tk 22 million and in DNCC Tk 16 million against the EC-fixed highest spending limit of Tk 3.0 million, Tk 3.0 million and Tk 5.0 million respectively.
"A mayoral candidate in the CCC spent the highest amount, Tk 64 million, for the poll," he said, adding that only one candidate's expenditure for the mayoral post in the DNCC was under the spending limit," he said.   
About the calculation process, he said 14 of the TIB men collected the spending-related data of the mayoral aspirants and councillor candidates in general and reserved seats for women in 28 wards maintaining a close watch on their (the contestants) electioneering since the first day.
According to the TIB findings, average spending of the ruling Awami League (AL)-backed mayoral candidates in DSCC and DNCC was Tk 35.60 million and the amount was Tk 64.70 million in the CCC while the BNP-supported candidates in DSCC and DNCC spent Tk 13.4 million and Tk 14.4 million in the CCC.
Posters and leaflets accounted for highest amount of money as 28.8 per cent of the money was spent on these in DSCC and DNCC while 27.5 per cent in the port city.
It said the mayoral candidates in the CCC had to pay kickbacks in between Tk 2.0 million to Tk 70 million to various government agencies, party funds and senior politicians for securing support. But it did not receive any such allegation in case of DSCC and DNCC.
While the general councillors paid Tk 0.2 to Tk 0.5 million and women councillors spent Tk 0.2 to Tk 0.3 million for availing political party's green signal for contesting the polls, it said.
About councillors, the findings said average expenditures of the AL-backed candidates in DSCC and DNCC was Tk 2.36 million and the amount was Tk 0.91 million in the CCC while the BNP-sponsored aspirants spent Tk 2.64 million in both parts of Dhaka City Corporation and Tk 1.15 million in the CCC against the allowable limit of Tk 0.6 million.  
About 58 per cent of candidates also violated election rules by providing food and drinks during the election, while 42 per cent by conducting campaign after the stipulated time.
The study said although the city election is a local body one, both the ruling Awami League and the BNP openly supported candidates while the AL forced their 336 party men to pull out.
It showed that the BNP did not provide polling agents in many polling centres despite having a peaceful environment and boycotted polls without any discussion with BNP-backed supporters.  
After releasing the report, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the roles of the EC and the law enforcement agencies became questionable as they failed to maintain congenial atmosphere for holding the elections.
"The city corporation elections was not held in a free, fair and impartial manner and the weak leadership of the EC is responsible for it," he said, adding that the Commission was observed showing flexibility to deal with the allegations of electoral rules violation against candidates backed by the ruling party.
He also criticised the BNP for taking the decision of boycott on the mid-day without discussing with the candidates.
TIB Trustee Board Member and former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the EC, saying that he thought the trend of vote rigging and stuffing will gradually be decreasing after the 2008 general polls when the then EC under his leadership introduced transparent ballot box and voter ID (identification) cards with photographs.
"But after observing the latest polls, it seems that old days are returning again, which is very unfortunate," he said.
He said the local government election-related law needs to be modified to allow candidates nominated by the political parties as both the ruling Awami League and the BNP openly supported candidates in the local government body elections which were supposed to be non-political.
Backing the EVM (Electoral Voting Machine), he said the EC can think of introducing it like many other countries as it will help reduce the scope of stuffing.
Coming down heavily over the ongoing trend of showdown during election campaign, he said candidates should go for social media and information technology as showdown of the candidates caused many difficulties like traffic jams.
"The election we witnessed was not good for anybody, even those who won and the EC is responsible for such a situation," he added.
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