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CITY CORPORATION ELECTIONS 2015

Ministers don't care

Flout electoral code of conduct

Staff Correspondent
In blatant violation of the electoral code of conduct, cabinet members are holding meetings to draw up campaign strategies to clinch victory for the ruling party-backed mayoral candidates in elections to the three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Yesterday, some ministers and state ministers held separate meetings with leaders of the Awami
League-led 14-party alliance in Dhaka and Chittagong cities to discuss the polls scheduled for April 28.
A day before, four cabinet members and a prime minister's adviser with the status of a minister had another such meeting with the AL's Dhaka city unit leaders. Sayeed Khokon, AL-blessed mayor aspirant in Dhaka South City Corporation, was also present at the meeting at the party chiefs Dhanmondi office.
The election rules, however, do not permit this.
According to Article 14 (A) of the code of conduct for city corporation elections,"... ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers or anybody of their status cannot participate in election campaigns or electoral activities..."
"If any minister holds a meeting for a candidate, it is a violation of the electoral code of conduct," Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak told The Daily Star on Monday.
Food Minister Qamrul Islam, who was present at Monday's meeting, argued that there was no violation of election rules as they didn't campaign for the party-backed candidates.
There was no press briefing after the Monday meeting but things were different yesterday.
Health Minister Mohammad Nasim held a press conference at the AL chiefs office. It was aired on differ-
ent television channels. There, he openly spoke about campaign strategies for the city polls.
Nasim said the 14-party alliance will extend its support to single candidates for every mayoral or councillor race, reports BSS.
"We will take part in campaigns for the candidates who will have support from the leader of the 14-party alliance," said Nasim, also spokesperson for the combine.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon and Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan were also present at the meeting.
Menon, also president of Workers Party of Bangladesh, too spoke about the elections at the briefing.
When this correspondent contacted him later, he claimed he did nothing against the electoral code of conduct.
"We did not campaign in favour of any candidate or any party in the meeting. We discussed overall political issues... and of course, the city election issue was discussed. But the election was not the main agenda of the meet-
ing," Menon said, insisting that their main focus was to draw up action plans to combat the ongoing violence by the BNP-Jamaat alliance.
In Chittagong, State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed attended a meeting with the AL-led alliance leaders at a city hotel yesterday.
Journalists were not allowed to enter the venue.
Emerging from the meeting, he told the press that they had talked about the city polls in the meeting.
But in the evening, he took a u-turn, and said: "We did not have any discussions on the city polls."
Moinuddin Khan Badal, executive president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, a component of the 14-party combine, told the reporters that the alliance leaders at the meeting lent their full support to AL-blessed mayoral hopeful AIM Nasir.
Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain and State Minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Bir Bahadur too were present at the meeting.
Asked, Chief Election
Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday said, "... We have directed the returning officers to take necessary actions whenever they receive complaints of violation of the electoral code of conduct."
Rakib's predecessor ATM Shamsul Huda said the EC must take action if any minister conducts electoral campaigns or joins electoral activities for any candidate.
"When such violations of the code of conduct take place publicly, it can definitely be brought to the notice of the EC. However, if it happens indoor, it is difficult to notice," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
But if such incidents are reported in the media, these should be investigated by the commission, he viewed. SCRUTINY STARTS TO DAY The returning officers today start scrutinising the nomination papers filed by mayoral and councillor candidates in the three city corporations. They will complete the scrutiny on Thursday and then announce the names of the eligible candidates.