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Who won the first round!

Mozammel H. Khan
The first round of upazilla elections is over. The BNP and its ally the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) won the highest number of posts in the elections conducted in 97 upazilas. Since it was a local body election, it will be somewhat premature to carry out critical and microscopic analyses of the results at this time without knowing the local issues which took centre-stage in different upazilas. The reactions of different stakeholders during and after the elections could be summarised as follows:
When the vote casting was going on the BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said in a press conference: "It has been proved today that the upazila elections are just a continuation of the January 5 [national] election. Everyone should now get an idea what would have happened to the BNP if it took part in the January 5 poll. That free and fair elections are not possible without a nonpartisan government has been proved yet again today." However, after the elections results were known and when the BNP won more posts than its arch rival the AL, the BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went somewhat overboard and claimed: "If the first phase of upazila parishad elections were 'fair,' the BNP would have won 95% of the chairman posts."
The ruling AL, however, said the first phase of the upazila elections was free and fair and BNP's allegations about the polls were a "sheer lie." "We have made many complaints to the Election Commission (EC). In some places, our activists were thrown out of the polling centres by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami men," H.T. Imam, co-chairman of party's election steering committee, told journalists at a press briefing after the voting had ended. Imam alleged that BNP was trying to sell the lie and claimed that law enforcers had thrown AL supporters out of many polling centres. He, however, expressed satisfaction over the independent role played by the EC.
Ironically, JI did not have any reactions vis-^-vis its unprecedented and unexpected victory.
"The EC was successful in holding elections to 97 upazila parishads in a free and fair manner," said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad. "The first phase of the elections was held peacefully, with some stray incidents of violence," he told reporters on the evening of the election day at the EC Secretariat's media centre. About the BNP's allegations of vote rigging, he said: "Local government elections are non-partisan in nature. So it is not of much importance if any political party raises any allegation. Rather, a candidate can raise allegations. We have taken their allegations seriously."
No reports or reactions were available from the election observer groups except for the BROTEE, which disclosed in a preliminary report that, according to the 330 observers it had employed in 24 upazilas, voters were free to cast their votes. The presence of voters, including women voters, was noteworthy and spontaneous. There were a few stray incidents of clashes between the supporters of rival candidates. However, the EC was firm in quelling the clashes and taking actions as per law. The law enforcing authorities were quick in dispensing justice on the spot. This was supported by a report of The Daily Star, which said that a number of AL activists were jailed and fined on the spot for various offenses.
So what does the whole process mean for the different stake holders? For BNP, the results worked as a revitalising force for its adherents and for the party, which had been demoralised following the January 5 election. It also gave a
clear message to the party's supreme leader that the proelection party's decisions should be guided more by the grassroot supporters of the party, not by the former proChinese pro-revolutionary 'intellectuals' whose 'love' for BNP is solely due to their 'detraction' for its rival. As per a report ofThe Daily Star, it talked to either the presidents or the general secretaries of BNP's 15 district units. They all said Khaleda should have "kept a second option" before boycotting the elections when it became clear that Sheikh Hasina would not accept the opposition's demand for holding the polls under a non-party administration. The most challenging aspect for BNP would be to convince people, both at home and abroad, that a nonpartisan CTG is indeed required to hold a free and fair election. So, in the event of a midterm election, BNP would have no option but to accept the PM's earlier formula of an all-party interim government, not the CTG it has been demanding so far.
AL, even in defeat, can boast that a free and fair election is indeed possible while Sheikh Hasina remains the PM. It will take away the wind from the BNP's sail once and for
all. In January 5 election, the ruling alliance did not get the opportunity to prove that a free and fair election is indeed possible under a so-called all-party government, which it has done now. By the same token, the opposition at that time, through their nonparticipation, also did not get the opportunity to prove otherwise. From that perspective, AL's claiming victory carries genuine merit. Also, AL can take solace from the fact that there was no opportunity for the opposition to use the 'war crimes trials,' its trump card, in the local election.
The EC did a superb job in this phase of the upazila election, notwithstanding the ceaseless allegations of its detractors. It could further strengthen itself in the successive phases of the process.
For JI, it is all victory. The sweet victory for JI came as a stunning surprise for its friends and foes alike. It would be premature to pass any comment on it without further research on the causes behind its electoral success.
The writer is the Convenor of the Canadian Committee for Human Rights and Democracy in Bangladesh.