Editorial
Elections to corporations and municipalities
A step forward in democratisation of society
THE elections to the four city corporations and nine municipalities should give the country reasons for optimism. The manner in which the elections were conducted leave us with little doubt about the fairness and transparency of the entire process. A general atmosphere of peace prevailed during the voting; and with no sign of any interference or manipulation or intimidation noticed anywhere, there is reason to believe that a restoration of democracy could finally be turning out to be an attainable goal. The turnout of voters, especially where women's participation is concerned, has been significant.
It is to be noted, insofar as the question of new leadership is concerned, that these elections have thrown up new faces, particularly at the mayoral level. That is proof, if proof were needed, that the country may finally be ready for change, for new leadership to replace the one that has so long been in charge, not always to everyone's satisfaction. Overall, the city and municipal elections have reflected the cardinal principle of Bangladesh's people still holding abiding faith in democracy and in the power of elections to strengthen and sustain that democracy. But even as we express our satisfaction at the elections and the results emerging from them, we realise the need for everyone to avoid lapsing into complacence about the future. More than anything else, the elections are also a reminder of the lessons that we need to learn as we pursue the bigger goal of a return to democratic parliamentary politics.
One of those lessons concerns the confusion over the electoral roll and voter ID. In a number of instances, voters were unable to distinguish the difference between the two. That is a pointer to the fact that such an essential point was not instilled in the minds of voters. The Election Commission has therefore something to do here, through drilling in all the information about these subtleties into voters' minds. That is important. The lessons learnt at these elections will help the EC to avoid pitfalls in the future. It must be noted that the city and municipal elections were, relatively speaking, a small exercise compared to the far bigger one of the general elections. The number of candidates and voters at the general elections as also the totality of polling booths will be on a bigger scale than those at the elections just concluded. Which makes it necessary for the EC to gear itself into action for the general elections from here on.
That said, we cannot but register our sense of satisfaction at the way the Election Commission, for all the constraints it was up against, conducted the polls. The elections were a test case for it and it has come through pretty well.
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