Zila Parishad elections

The Zila Parishad election was the first poll that was bereft of the usual festivity and assembly of enthusiastic public because many of them did not vote in it; yesterday the vote was cast by elected representatives of the other local bodies including union parishads, upazila parishads, municipalities and city corporations. The manner in which money was spun to win votes and the presence of many ruling party top brass canvassing for their chosen candidates raised eyebrows about the electoral rules and their blatant violation.

But the question will remain as to the electoral process itself. Are we drifting away from the very fundamentals of direct franchise? It is remarkable that while all our local body representatives are elected directly, the Zila Parishad members would be elected through a different mechanism. That we now have "electoral colleges" of sorts i.e. elected representatives from different local government bodies to decide on who will be elected to office is something unique.

Nearly a third of Awami League's chosen candidates were beaten by rebel candidates. And while significant money has been spent from the national exchequer to conduct the poll, the predictable absence of BNP and the Jatiya Party took much sheen out of the process. Indeed, one may well ask what the point of the Zila election was if it is not inclusive of all parties and ordinary voters. But be that as it may, now that the election is over to the highest tier of local government, we would hope that it would be allowed to function without any political or bureaucratic hindrance of the type we see in respect of the other local bodies.