The people’s lack of enthusiasm for voting was the major concern during the 5th Upazila Council polls, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar said before describing it as an ‘ominous sign’.
He made the remarks in a statement to the media on Wednesday (Jun 19), a day after the final phase of the voting in the elections ended.
“People’s lack of lack of enthusiasm and participation in the elections is pushing the nation to the edge of a cliff,” it read.
It’s an “ominous sign” for a democratic country if its people are not enthusiastic about polls, Commissioner Mahbub said. “Democracy has to be upheld through holding proper elections.”
The recently-held Upazila elections were not inclusive as opposition parties did not participate, according to him.
“The Upazila polls were one-sided, which not good at all for democracy. Democracy means the opinion of the majority gets expressed in an inclusive and participatory manner,” he said before adding opinion of the majority does not get reflected properly in lopsided polls.
Upazila councils will fail to meet people’s expectations if it's is not able to deliver their duties independently and “the democratic norms of the local governance system are compromised”, Commissioner Mahbub said in his statement.