Forthcoming municipal elections

We welcome the upcoming municipal elections due to be held on December 30. Whether the decision to hold on party lines is a good one, only future will tell.  Although there is yet to be any official confirmation from the principal opposition party BNP on whether or not it will participate in the municipal polls, we certainly hope that transparency and a level playing field will be ensured to generate confidence amongst all the political parties.

There are, however, a few matters that raise concern. We wonder whether the recent spate of arrests of opposition leaders and activists, in various districts, ostensibly on charges of causing violence and terror, according to BNP to prevent the party from participating in the said elections, has anything to do with the forthcoming elections. We hope that these arrests are on genuine grounds, because anything otherwise would certainly harm the government's credibility in creating an environment for free-and-fair polls. 

Another matter that raises question is the appointment of 175 additional district commissioners and UNO to act as Returning Officers (RO), according to a leading Bangla Daily. The ROs had traditionally been appointed from amongst the EC staff. What, we wonder, is the rationale for the EC for doing so. Such decisions hardly inspire confidence in either the electoral process or the EC itself.

It is for the EC to allay all apprehensions of the political parties. It should take into account the misgivings expressed by various quarters. Failure to deliver an atmosphere that will allow the electorate to exercise its franchise in a transparent manner will do the EC's credibility little good.