Twin setbacks for AL

Dhaka, Oct 30 — With its mayor pick Shamim Osman losing heavily and a tussle with the Election Commission, the ruling Awami League has suffered twin defeats in the Narayanganj City Corporation polls.


This has been the ruling party's first test of public mandate after the repeal of the unelected caretaker government.


"This is a big lesson for Awami League," ruling ally Workers Party chief Rashed Khan Menon MP told bdnews24.com.

"They had backed a criminal-mafia instead of the one who Narayanganj liked," he said.


"They should now realise the error."


Ivy, saying that she had the blessings of the party chief Sheikh Hasina in her bid for the mayor's office, knocked Shamim out of the race in the unofficial results.


Many view it as a defeat for the government for the insurmountable lead that renegade Awami League candidate Selina Hayat Ivy had over his nearest rival Awami League-backed former MP Shamim Osman in the city close to capital Dhaka.

Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif announced that Shamim was the party's official candidate with only days before the election and only after the deadline for nomination withdrawal was over.

The official endorsement, however, could not be resolved despite the prime minister's intervention. She had met both the candidates, apparently to convince one to pull out of the race. Neither Shamim, nor Ivy agreed to relent, and given their political pedigree—both Shamim and Ivy's fathers were closely associated with the party—Awami League leadership had found it difficult to choose one over the other.

Evidently embarrassed at the result those who favoured Shamim chose to keep mum. Even Hanif refused to speak about the polls on Sunday evening. He told bdnews24.com, "I won't make any comments about the Narayanganj elections."


With the opposition demanding resignation of the election commission officials, namely the chief election commissioner, A T M Shamsul Huda said that they would demand an explanation from the government for failing to accommodate the commission's request for army deployment.

Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said he thought the election was a new dawn for democracy in Bangladesh.

"Our political parties must take a lesson from this election. The lesson is to pay attention to grassroots leadership," he said.

"The grassroots leadership won this election, and the central leadership lost it."

"People rejected the Awami League candidate. Awami League central leadership must strengthen its relationship with its grassroots.

"Our democracy will be established if the central leadership follows this lesson," he said.
From:bdnews24.com