UC polls marked by irregularities: SUJAN

Staff Correspondent: Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJAN) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder opined that the ongoing Union Council polls are marked by irregularities and ‘nomination trade’, which are not acceptable in anyway.

He made the comment in a press conference at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in the capital on Thursday.

Revealing that the ongoing Union Council elections have already set a record in casualties leaving at least 101 people dead and over 8,000 injured in election clashes, Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJAN) has demanded that the Election Commission (EC) be reformed to hold credible elections.

According to statistic presented at the press conference by Sujan coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar, about 80 people were killed in the UC elections in 1988, while 31 in 1997, 23 in 2003 and 10 in 2011. But, at least 101 people were killed in election violence taken place till fourth phase of the staggered UP polls.

The Sujan statistics show that 40 leaders and activists of Awami League-backed candidates were killed during the election clashes while 12 followers of AL rebel candidates, 2 workers of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and one of Jatiya Party (JP) were killed.

About the overall election scenario, Shuajn Coordinator Dilip said a total of 220 chairman candidates have already been elected uncontested as BNP has failed to field chairman candidates in 554 Union Councils, which is a matter of grave concern.

‘The trend of being elected unopposed will weaken the election system further...it’ll be suicidal for the nation,’ he said

risingbd/Dhaka/May 26, 2016/Mithun/Nasim