Absence of main opposition remains the biggest challenge

Although this new US visa policy is proving expedient, it would not be wise to believe that the country is intent on fostering democracy in Bangladesh.

It is quite intriguing how the RPA amendment can be so accommodating to defaulters who are desperate to gain political power.

It appears, then, that the Awami League’s bold rhetoric of development and prosperity, transparency and good governance, and fostering democracy is rendered hollow by its own partymen – unwittingly or not.

Just as BNP was about to come up with fresh programmes, Ramadan arrived, rendering all politics to the confines of the iftar table.

The BNP will go tough on its leaders and activists who will run for councillor in the city polls and those who will patronise them.

Sumon, a crime reporter at Agami News, was attacked while taking photos of a gathering of Awami League activists in Rayerbazar area on Dhaka city corporation election day.

While we are happy that the three city mayoral elections have come to an end with little violence, they were, as we had feared, simply the iteration of the Khulna and Gazipur polls. They bear nearly all the hallmarks—from ballot stuffing to expelling election agents—of a heavily manipulated election.

Voting in Barisal, Sylhet and Rajshahi city corporations begins this morning with all the mayoral candidates except for the ones from the Awami League casting doubt about fair polls amid arrests and harassment of their supporters.

Defying a ban on their stay in the city corporation areas going to polls tomorrow, outsiders campaigned for the Awami League's mayoral candidates in the three cities on the last day of electioneering yesterday.

Ignoring warnings from the Election Commission, mayoral candidates in Monday's Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barisal city corporation elections continued to violate the electoral code of conducts with the electioneering ending this midnight.

The BNP is now more worried about the role of police than about its archrival Awami League in Monday's three city corporation polls.

About two-thirds of the mayor and councillor candidates in Sylhet, Rajshahi and Barisal cities did not have taxable income in fiscal 2017-18, according to their tax return certificates submitted to the Election Commission.

The BNP mayoral nominees are concerned that their agents may be driven out of the polling booths during the three city polls on Monday.

With the city polls in Sylhet, Rajshahi and Barisal only a week away, arrests of BNP leaders and activists remains a major concern for its mayoral candidates.

Mayoral candidates and their supporters have been conducting campaigns in three cities flouting the electoral code of conduct, but the Election Commission is hardly taking any action to stop this.

The Election Commission yesterday announced mayoral polls in Rajshahi, Barisal, and Sylhet city corporations on July 30, creating the ground for another round of battle of ballots in the runup to the parliamentary elections likely in December.

Some previous verdicts of the Supreme Court about disputes over elections now offer the Election Commission strong legal grounds to have the stay orders on Gazipur and Dhaka north city mayoral polls vacated.

Following the ruling Awami League's request, the Election Commission is considering an amendment to the electoral

The ultimate tragedy will strike if people become withdrawn. It will no longer matter who wins or loses any of the many elections.