Nat'l issues dominate local polls campaign

National issues have been dominating the election campaigns of the Awami League and BNP mayor candidates in the Khulna and Gazipur city polls.

As the two cities are going to polls along party lines on May 15 for the first time, the four mayor hopefuls of the two major parties have been talking about the national issues to woo voters.

Besides, central leaders campaigning for their party colleagues are also brining many national issues to the fore.

The AL leaders are reminding voters about the BNP-Jamaat's alleged violence before and after the January 5, 2014 parliamentary polls and the “failure” of the incumbent BNP-backed mayors in carrying out development works in the two cities.

Highlighting the government's development projects, the AL candidates argue that voters should elect mayors from the ruling party to help the government continue the development works.

However, the BNP candidates have been telling voters that they should take the election as an opportunity to protest against the “government's misdeeds as it has destroyed all the democratic institutions in the country and indulged in corruption”.

The mayor hopefuls are trying to convince voters that victories in the polls will intensify the BNP's ongoing movement to free party Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail. The former prime minister is now behind bars in a graft case.

However, election experts said the way the electioneering is taking place in Khulna and Gazipur cities, it seems that a national election is going to be held there. According to them, campaigns of councillor aspirants failed to attract voters' attention as the councillor polls are non-partisan.

AL mayoral candidate in Khulna Talukder Abdul Khaleque said carrying out development works locally was not possible without the support from the government.

“Rampal power plant, Mongla Port and other national development projects will surely have an impact on Khulna city. So it is very natural that national issues will dominate the electoral campaign here.”

He also said as the AL was in power, carrying out development works in Khulna city would be easy if the mayor was elected from the ruling party.

Mayor hopeful Nazrul Islam Monju of BNP said he was stressing that people should cast their votes to “get back their voting rights”. “In our polls campaign, we are focusing on Khaleda Zia's release and the local issues. People are just waiting for a chance to show no-confidence in the government and Khulna city election will bring them one such chance.”

Hasan Uddin Sarker, mayoral candidate of BNP in Gazipur, said, “I am urging voters to cast their votes for an experienced and tested candidate. As the election is being held along party lines, I am focusing on the government's misdeeds and the local issues.”

Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said a mayor should be elected from the elected councillors to strengthen the local government. Only then the local issues will get priority during polls campaigns.

As the parliamentary election is only a few months away, it is quite normal that the ruling party candidates will try to get advantage of the government's major development projects and the opposition party will try to focus on the government's failures, he added.

Former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Shakhawat Hossain said the central leaders of the political parties were picking the mayor candidates and also taking part in the polls campaigns.

“When the central leaders join the electioneering, they focus more on national issues. The party candidates and their supporters have nothing to do but follow the tone set by the central leaders,” he told The Daily Star.

The central leaders' involvement in the process should be stopped to make an election to a local government body a local election in true sense, he observed.