At nine degrees Celsius and dense fog, Dhaka and other cities in Bangladesh may not have been congenial for any movement. But politics can’t be left to the weather. The top priority for the BNP is the formalisation of acting leader Tarique Rahman’s status:
“At present, he is the acting chairman, but I believe that within a day or two, we will be able to make him chairman. This is because our leader, chairperson Khaleda Zia, has already left us. That position must, of course, be filled,” Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general, told a crowded press briefing on Sunday in Sylhet.
He was also hopeful that Tarique would begin his election campaign in Sylhet because “Khaleda Zia used to begin her election campaigns from Sylhet, we hope that this time it will be the same. Our expectation, indeed everyone’s expectation, is that he (Tarique Rahman) will begin his election campaign from Sylhet.”
The party faithful would have been buoyed by the results of an opinion poll, which found that 70% of voters prefer the BNP, only 19% favour the Jamaat. According to Prothom Alo, the poll was conducted by a private agency, Eminence Associates for Social Development, which covered more than 20,400 people across 300 constituencies.
Only 2.6% expressed support for the NCP, the party comprising students who led the uprising last August that ousted Sheih Hasina from power. Doubtless, as the election date nears and campaigning heats up, there will be more opinion polls giving a radically different result; nonetheless, for the leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami, it’s a sobering reminder that their street power and organisation are not an indication of public support.
But there’s something else. All candidates are required by law to give details of all wealth, including property, cash, jewellery and so on, and members of the public are wondering why the value of the assets is so low given their lifestyle. Even the assets published by Rahman from BNP and the Jamaat chief have come under scrutiny.
“The public has little confidence in the asset and income–expenditure information provided by election candidates in their affidavits,” Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo. “There are questions about how realistic these figures are. It should be examined whether candidates have undisclosed assets or income, and their lifestyles should also be taken into consideration.” Expect more on this in the run-up to voting day.
