A certain degree of voter disenchantment, coupled with complacency and indiscipline within the ruling BNP. and a spirited. people-oriented campaign approach by the op position Awami League appear to have shaped the final out come of the Just-concluded city corporation polls In Dhaka and Chittagong.

And although the ruling party managed to retain the mayorships of both Khulna and Rajshahl the Awami League also made significant inroads In those two cities. All four BNP candidates for mayorship had had stints at the post be fore resigning to contest the polls.

The polls results were quite a reversal ol fortune for I he ruling party vis a cis the par llamentary elections of 1991 when It had convincingly won all 14 Jatiya Sangsad seals on offer in the four metropolitan

cities. The BNP also won all four by elections — three in Dhaka and one In Chittagong — held in these cities since the parliamentary polls.

However, this time around the ruling BNP lost two of the most prixed posts at stake — the mayorships of Dhaka and Chittagong — to its arch rival the Awa ml League (ALI

Alienation of certain blocks of voters and disenchantment among others are being Iden tlfled as the primary reasons for the spectacular defeat of the ruling party in the two ma jor cities

Key voting blocks, specially In the capital, were turned away by some recent govern ment decisions Perhaps the most damaging among them were the eviction of the hawkers and slum dwellers and the perceived government plan to phase out rickshaws and force government employ

ees with 25 years of service to go on compulsory retirement. Retrenchment in the public sector enterprises was another factor.

The AL used these government decisions fully to their Advantage to win over those alienated voters during tht campaigning. The AL even forced BNP candidate Mirza Abbas to issue a disclaimer at an election ral|y that he had never intended to phase-out (he rickshaws from the capital.

The Prime Minister and BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia was also compelled to say In a public meeting that the government had no plan to retire the government employees on completion of 25 years of service.

Disillusionment among the voters, political analysts point out. grew from the deteriorating law and order situation, a stagnant economy and the perceived Inability of the government to deal with difficult Situation* and in taking hard decision*

A section of the business community was also alienated by the government s Inability to jump-start the economy, despite Its success In main taintng macro-economic sta-bflity

Voters were also turned off by the government's failure to take hard decisions and to deal with difficult situation* like agitations by industrial worker*. doctors professionals and others.

Over confidence and inner party squabbles, compounded by a most uncoordinated and unimaginative campaign strategy. are also being etted as the reasons for the BNP's electoral debacle in the capital and the port city. The complacency bug which had caused the AL s defeat in the last parliamentary elections, seems to have bitten the ruling party this time around.

Party Infighting, specially in these two cities, are well known. The Chittagong chapter of the BNP is sharply divided in two opposlting blocs — one led by Communh -Arms Minister Oli Ahmed anti the other by Forests and Fisheries Minister Abdullah AT Noman. who is the president of the unit. Even the Prime Minister attempted to resolve the difference* of the two squabbling factions a number of times in the past, but apparently with little success.

In Dhaka, the situation is somewhat similar The sharp differences between the city BNP president Mir Shawkat All and ex-mayor Abbas surfaced during the party council meeting in August last. Again, the antagonists reluctantly agreed to bury the hatchet only aftqr the Prime Minister Intervened. In this context, one political analysts observed that it was rather Imprudent on the part of the party high commanfl to

entrust Abbas mayoral campaign in the hands of Mir Shawkat who is also conaid ered to lack the political experience necessary in such a major task.

Because of squabbling, the BNP was even unable to nominate candidates of unanimous choice for the ward commis sioner posts in most cases. Thi* led to more than one party worker contesting for the same poet, thus dividing the campaign worker* and ' splitting the BNP vote.

The BNP campaign thu*. was a house divided, and the commissioner candidates campaigned only for their own selves rather than drumming up support for the party's may-oral candidate.

In contrast, the ALs cam paign was well orchestrated and It managed to nominate consensus candidates In most wards.

Ito ward commissioner nominees also campaigned ceaselessly for the mayoral candidate.

The Awami League also appeared to have learnt the lessons from the 1991 defeat well and placed more emphasis on per *on*-to-person* con tact It took the campaigning in all seriousness and. in a break from th* past. went from door to door, which added a personal touch to the electioneering and helped convlncelthe voter*.

AL chief Sheikh Hasina * pre-poll, appeal to voter* to elect opposition candidates for providing a check-and-balance. also seemed to have struck a sympathetic chord among the voters.

The setback notwithstanding. the ruling BNP would stand to gain credibility by taking the defeat in its stride. For. despite the stray Incidents. the elections under it were held generally peacefully and unlike in the past, the outcome? of tlie polls were no foregone conclusion.