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Khulna polls saw 'peaceful rigging'

Observes Shujan, slams EC for failure

Staff Correspondent
As the recent Khulna City Corporation elections were marked by "peaceful rigging”, there is no scope to term it free, fair and flawless, Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) said yesterday.
Reading out a written statement at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity, Dilip Kumar Sarkar, central coordinator of Shujan, a civil society platform working for good governance, said, "We feel the Khulna City Corporation election was a questionable one"
People's confidence and the credibility that the Election Commission had gained following the Rangpur City Corporation elections has dissipated in the KCC election, Dilip Kumar added.
For some candidates, the KCC polling atmosphere was frightening even though
there were no noticeable incidents of violence or cases of mass irregularities, he said at the event.
This is why voter presence was very low, at only 62.19 percent, he added.
After holding three good city corporation elections - Narayanganj, Comilla and Rangpur - an example of non-transparent and faulty election was set through the Khulna election, said Dilip.
Dr Tofail Ahmed, a local government expert, said a new model was set up during the election, where no chasing, counterchasing or snatching of ballot boxes took place. Rather, the election was done under peaceful rigging.
The EC had no control over the law enforcers, said Shujan President M Hafizuddin Khan while speaking at the press conference.
Almost 10,000 law enforcers were on the field, and there was a lot of preparation, but still, in many cases, fake votes were cast in front of police personnel, he added.
For free and fair election, Hafiz suggested not to hold party-based local government polls.
Speaking there, columnist Syed Abul Maksud said the EC obtained "third class” in the Khulna city corporation election.
As a constitutional body, the EC failed to show their courage in holding free and fair election in Khulna. As such, people do not believe that they will be able to show the tenacity to the next general election in a free and fair manner.
He said a new trend has been set in the election, where a second-grader student also cast a vote.
Among others, Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar also spoke.