Victory to boost AL ranks' morale

Despite facing criticism over vote rigging in Tuesday's city polls, the ruling Awami League is happy with the success of its favourites.
Some AL leaders said the results would put the party in a much stronger position in Dhaka city and help it counter any possible anti-government movement by the BNP in future.

According to them, the polls have created an opportunity for the party to bring in a new leadership for the city AL, putting an end to the long-standing dominance of a handful of leaders.

One leader said people would forget about the irregularities in city polls in just three to seven days.

However, a few leaders feared the anomalies in the elections would tarnish the party's image and justify the BNP's claim that no free and fair election was possible under the AL-led government.

The way the city polls have been held might force the BNP to take to the streets again which would ultimately push the country towards politics of confrontation, they added. 

“The Awami League might have yielded more benefit from a credible election than it has by capturing the three mayoral posts. The party should now assess why people didn't vote for it although the government implemented numerous development projects. It should learn a lesson from the elections to plan its future course of action,” an AL central committee member told this newspaper.   

None of the leaders wanted to speak on record as AL chief Sheikh Hasina yesterday clarified the party's stance on the city polls.

Speaking at a programme at Gono Bhaban, the prime minister said Tuesday's elections were “free, fair and peaceful”. The people of Dhaka and Chittagong “rejected the BNP” in the polls, she added.  

Most of the ruling party leaders think that the BNP has no organisational strength to launch a fresh anti-government movement as the 20-party alliance's three-month agitation failed recently.

Sources in the AL said the city polls revealed the BNP's organisational weakness as it failed to field polling agents in all polling booths. Besides, the presence of party leaders and activists at the polling centres was thin.

“Instead of lunching an anti-government movement, the BNP should now strengthen itself,” AL Organising Secretary Khalid Mahamud Chowdhury told The Daily Star.

According to the AL, the BNP's announcement of polls boycott was “pre-planned”. The party joined the polls race and later pulled out “only to make an issue out of the situation”.

Another AL leader said, “There's no need for a democracy better than the present one in our country where thousands of people take to the streets on rumours that Delawar Hossain Sayedee has been seen on the moon.”

“By joining the electoral race and pulling out from it, the BNP wanted to prove that holding a fair election was not possible under the Awami League government,” said another central AL leader.

Insiders said the ruling party would be able to prove that the BNP didn't provide the presiding officers with the lists of polling agents of its favourites in many polling centres.

The ruling party is planning to hold a victory rally in the capital to mark the polls success of the party-backed candidates.