Local govt elections should be held like national polls
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her dissatisfaction over city corporations’ election results and said all local government polls in future should be held like the national elections directly participated by political parties. Inaugurating 88 new AC buses for Dhaka metropolitan city at Ganobhaban on Saturday, the prime minister said: “I think all local government elections should take place on partisan basis as in England and many other countries in the world.”
Sheikh Hasina said the victory in recent elections of the five city corporations – Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Gazipur – went to those she described as “terrorist and corrupt” candidates and claimed that no candidate backed by the grand alliance lost the civic polls.
“Those who are honest and contributed to the development work did not win in the city corporation elections,” she said adding: “Those who are involved in corruption, terrorist activities, underground politics and murders emerged victorious in the civic polls.”
Sheikh Hasina, who is also the president of the ruling Awami league, said: “No one was able to bring up any allegation of corruption against the candidates backed by the grand alliance. Those who did not commit any corruption and those with clean image lost the city corporation elections.”
In this connection, she said the Gazipur candidate supported by her party was elected municipal mayor for three terms. He is a man of clean image; no one could ever raise any complaint of corruption against him, yet he lost the election, Sheikh Hasina lamented.
“The mayor of Khulna used to be associated with an underground party involved in many murders including the killings of Manik Saha, journalist Balu and Manjurul Imam. He was an accused in a murder case. Ziaur Rahman brought him out of jail when he floated his political party,” she said.
The prime minister said she has no idea whatsoever as to what prompted the defeat of all grand alliance-backed candidates in the civic polls in five cities of the country and called upon all concerned to find out the reasons for their election debacle. Sheikh Hasina said her government made significant progress in various development activities aiming at the removal of people’s sufferings and providing additional facilities to civic life across the country but yet the voters did not support the incumbent candidates in the city corporation elections.
Launching a broadside against Allama Ahmed Shafi, the leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, for what she termed “highly indecent and derogatory” remarks on women, the prime minister said: “I am totally baffled thinking how a religious leader could utter such distasteful comments about women of Bangladesh.”
At a recent religious gathering, the Hefazat leader reportedly prescribed only fourth grade as the maximum education for women and asked them to stay home for all times and not to go for any employment outside. He also advised the women not to wear any dresses which are not permissible under Islam.
The prime minister said the remarks of Allama Shafi on Bangladeshi women are undesirable and cited example of Hazrat Khadiza (RA), the wife of Prophet Muhammad (SM) who engaged herself in trade and businesses. This is a fact and well-known to everybody who has read the history of Islam, she added.
Sheikh Hasina wondered how the Hefazat leader could have made those meaningless and offensive comments on Bangladesh’s women. “Wasn’t he born to a mother? Doesn’t he have any respect for her or for her sister or wife? Why doesn’t he like to treat women with due respect?” he questioned.
The 88 AC buses bought under a one billion dollar line of credit from India will join the existing fleet of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), considerably easing the transport problem in the capital.
UNB adds: Irked by ‘unnecessary’ criticism, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she will
go for a tit-for-tat policy against
those criticising the government relentlessly over the quick rental power plant issue.
“Let the holy Ramadan be over, let the holy Eid pass by, I’ll do that …I’ll do that after open declaration,” she said. Describing what will be the tit-for-tat policy, Hasina said the government will stop the production of power after generation of 3200 MW.
“The present government has inherited this level of power generation from the BNP-Jamaat alliance when it came to power in 2009.
She went on: “I think, we’ll go for that decision, it’ll help people realise what the present government does for the development of the power generation.”
Hasina said her government, after assuming power, increased power generation from 3200 MW to 6675 MW by installing 55 various kinds of power generation plants, including the quick rental ones.
The prime minister said she wants to see what the critics of quick rental power plants will do when the power generation will come down to 3200 MW again.
“People will then realise what the Awami League government did for them,” she said adding that otherwise the criticism will never end. Hasina also advised the critics to refrain from unnecessary criticism for averting uncomfortable situation in future.
-With The Independent input
