CHITTAGONG, 11 May 2005 — The opposition candidate in the race for the mayor’s office in the southern Bangladesh port city of Chittagong has been declared elected, officials said yesterday.
Mohiuddin Chowdhury, incumbent mayor and opposition Awami League’s candidate, polled about a hundred thousand votes more than his nearest challenger Mir Nasiruddin who has been backed by the ruling coalition.
Counting of ballots started overnight soon after voting closed in all the 577 polling stations in the business hub which has more than a million registered voters.
As the result of the polls was announced by senior election official Golam Quddus, there was spontaneous jubilation in the port city with tens of thousands of Chowdhury’s supporters taking to the streets.
The mayoral election in Chittagong, the country’s second biggest city, was held Monday amidst tight security with soldiers and paramilitary police patrolling the streets during the non-stop eight-hour voting.
The local government election assumed a high profile after top leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the dominant faction in the ruling coalition, and the main opposition Awami League began viewing the mayoral polls as a test of the popularity of their parties ahead of a general election scheduled for next year.
At least 20 people were wounded in clashes late on Monday between police and supporters of incumbent Chowdhury, who accused officials of trying to rig the vote.
Awami League Secretary-General Abdul Jalil said his party believed the result of the mayoral election would help intensify the opposition campaign for electoral reforms before the holding of national polls.
Chowdhury, elected to a third straight term as Chittagong mayor, told his cheering supporters his win was a “massive victory” of the people’s desire and a strong protest against the government.
Awami League chief Hasina Wajed has demanded Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s resignation and an early parliamentary poll. Khaleda, whose five-year term ends in October 2006, has rejected the demands.
Commission officials said the violent protests after the vote were due to “procedural snags” in counting. There were a number of complaints of rigging, but electoral chief M.A. Syed said voting was free and fair. Authorities deployed over 20,000 security officials in the city of four million ahead of the vote.
