Why are there party candidates in non-partisan local government elections?

The drumbeat of local government elections has already started to sound. The state minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives said on Tuesday that local government elections may start across the country in phases from September or October after the monsoon season this year. He also said that the government has a plan to complete all types of elections within the next one year, which may start with the Union Parishad elections (Daily Star, May 19, 2026).

However, political parties have started preparing for the local government elections even before this announcement. Although the ruling BNP is not yet fully active, the party’s leaders at various levels are not sitting still. From Union Parishad to City Corporation, party supporters are quite active everywhere. They are greeting voters through posters, banners and social media. They are also spreading this message to the party’s policymakers – that the locals want to see him as mayor, chairman or councillor. Jamaat-e-Islami and the NCP are one step ahead. They have already announced their party candidacies for the mayoral posts of various city corporations, including two in Dhaka.

Where the government is thinking of starting this electoral process with the Union Parishad, why have Jamaat and the NCP in particular started preparations for the city corporation elections in advance? Although they have decided on mayoral candidates in some municipalities, it can be said from their campaign activities that they are more focused on the city corporations.

It is right that the most important part of the state and society in terms of power, money, and social status is centred in the city corporations, including Dhaka. Therefore, along with their attraction to the general public, the media focus is also high. Perhaps this is why the two parties are paying more attention to the city corporations. This is also true that the NCP’s public base is low in many municipal areas, not just villages. Jamaat’s base is also not that strong. This fact may also play a role behind their excessive interest in cities.

Some say that in the last parliamentary elections, Jamaat won many seats in the local areas by taking the votes of Awami League supporters based on various assurances. Why will this strategy not work in the local government elections? In response to this question, another question can be asked: do they make mistakes again and again? In the last parliamentary elections, the results of voting for BNP and Jamaat were not good for Awami supporters. With a few exceptions, in most areas, both BNP and Jamaat have forgotten the assurances given before the elections and are once again taking up arms against the AL’s supporters. The mob violence that terrified the common people during the interim government has not stopped yet. The main victims of this medieval barbarity were still Awami League leaders, activists, supporters and well-wishers, and they remain so. On May 14, a brave freedom fighter was forced to publicly apologise in Niamatpur, Naogaon, simply for raising the slogan ‘Joy Bangla’.

The opposition parties, in harmony with the government, are still shouting this slogan – that the ban on the Awami League and its affiliated organisations will not be lifted before the trials are over. The BNP and Jamaat, which have been working hand in hand for the past many decades, have made such a declaration, probably to prevent the Awami League from participating in local government elections, just as in the parliamentary elections. No matter how heated the exchange of words in parliament about the referendum or the July Charter, the consensus of the two parties is clear in keeping their common adversary out of politics, although the much-desired political stability may remain elusive because of this fact.

Meanwhile, at which stage of the local government elections will be held first, and for which one are Jamaat-NCP preparing, a bigger question has arisen: why are the parties deciding on candidates in a non-partisan arrangement?

Incidentally, during the previous Awami League era, the path to voting on party symbols in all levels of local elections was cleared by amending the law. At that time, almost all opposition parties, including BNP-Jamaat, were very vocal against it. In continuation of this, the interim government issued the necessary ordinances that brought the required amendments to the relevant laws, which BNP also passed in parliament. As a result, legally, there is no scope for declaring party candidacy in local government elections. 

In this context, even the chief election commissioner is concerned about the declaration of candidacy by political parties. While talking to the media on Sunday about the nature of local government elections, he said, “This is a concern for me. My forehead is creased.”

Why only the chief election commissioner; there is also concern in civil society that if political parties declare candidacy in this way, local government elections will not regain their non-partisan character. Even if there is no party symbol, the desires of the top leadership of the parties will prevail in nominating candidates. And the party leaders and activists will rush to get him elected. Again, those who do not want to accept the party decision will be subjected to the sword of expulsion. That is, again, division, fighting, and hostility will be seen at the local level within the same party. The electoral environment is also polluted by this. The point is, the desire to bring back the once festive local government elections, which led to the attempt to make the elections non-partisan, will be completely fruitless.

Another thing is that in the past, the character of local government elections was mainly that many social figures like teachers, small businessmen, and even farmers would come forward in these elections. They had very close ties with the society. As a result, not only would the needs of the society be given priority in various policies and development activities, but alternative leadership would also be created. There are many examples where popular Union Parishad or Upazila chairman became a member of parliament or even a minister at one time. If the non-partisan character of the local government institution is damaged, that possibility will disappear.

Not only that. Party interference in the elections of non-partisan institutions also reduces the constitutional right of any citizen to participate in the elections. In this context, one can look at the elections of various bar associations held recently. Many popular lawyers were not allowed to participate in many elections, including the recently concluded Supreme Court Bar Association, alleging their affiliation with the Awami League. This not only undermined the rights of those lawyers but the acceptability of the elections has also been questioned due to the unprecedentedly low voter turnout. I, like all democratic-minded people, wish that the upcoming local government elections be truly universal or universally accepted, avoiding these flaws.

Writer: Saifur Rahman Tapan is an Assistant Editor, Daily Samakal

The article was originally published in the print and online editions of The Daily Samakal and has been rewritten for the English version by Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Assistant News Editor.