Alleging 'one-sided' elections, regional parties stay away from contesting Bandarban seat

No regional political party is contesting the Bandarban-300 seat in the upcoming national elections, leaving Awami League candidate and the Minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing to secure the constituency for the seventh time in a row. 

Most of the leaders and activists of the Parbatya Chattogram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) led by Shantu Larma are facing a number of police cases, while some are in hiding.

The leaders of the parties also believe that the elections wouldn't be free and fair. 

 The original UPDF also doesn't have a committee. Although the leaders and activists are somewhat active in the city, they aren't operating in any upazila.

Mongoe Pru, eldest son of the 14th King Maungshai, is the AL's dummy candidate. 

Mongoose is the vice-president of the district AL and has been involved with the party since 1985.

A possible challenger for AL could be Jatiya Party candidate ATM Shahidul Islam (Bablu), but he is not popular or well-known among the voters. 

The expectation was for a challenger to emerge from the PCJSS led by Shantu Larma as the party holds quite the sway in Bandarban, but this is not the case. 

Although the PCJSS candidates won in previous local UP and upazila elections, no leader is available to run in the Jatiya Sangsad polls this time around.

Party leaders said they had planned to nomination a candidate, but a number of "false" cases against their leaders and activists meant they were on the run.

Therefore, it decided not to participate in this election.

Party higher ups also think there is no environment for voting and believe the elections will be one-sided.

U Win Mong Marma (Jalimong), deputy general secretary of PCJSS' central committee, told The Business Standard that it had fielded a single candidate in the Bandarban constituency in 2009. 

"But now there is no environment for voting. An unstable environment is prevailing in the constituency. False cases have been filed against all our activists. In this situation, there is no question of participating in the elections. However, the situation is being closely monitored," he said.

U Win Mong also said the party was still thinking about a candidate for the Rangamati constituency. 

"The final decision will be taken after looking at the overall situation with an emphasis on the implementation and evaluation of the hill accord. We can see whether there will be a party candidate or not by looking at the last day of candidate withdrawal," he said.

Meanwhile, the BNP, among a number of other parties, has decided not to participate in the 12th Parliament elections. 

A PCJSS leader, under the condition of anonymity, said, "The situation in Chittagong Hill Tracts is always different from other regions of the country. If we were not expelled from the area through false cases against our party leaders and activists, we would have been in the polling field of Bandarban constituency. Because we have candidates as well as voters."

The United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), another regional political party, which seeks a fully autonomous Hill Tracts, has a strong position in the Khagrachhari district. 

The party, however, is mired in infighting, resulting in a number of factions at war with each other. 

It once established a strong foothold in a few urban areas of the Bandarban district as well, but its district committee was abolished a few years ago.

Speaking over the phone, UPDF spokesperson Angya Marma said the election would be one-sided and unfair.

"There will be no fair elections under this government. The second point is that law enforcement is a major factor in the elections in the three hill districts. The AL leaders of the three districts have been liaising with the law and order forces and getting their patronage."

He said the party had decided to boycott the elections due to these two situations.

"On the other hand, our activists are in jail. After getting bail, they were arrested again. In this situation, there is no opportunity to participate in the election. But apart from this we are not supporting any other party," he said. 

The UPDF (democratic), which splintered from the original UPDF in 2017, is yet to decide whether to participate in the elections.

The party's Bandarban District President Mongpu Marma said, "Our party has no definite position on the national election so far. However, our activists are in the field. We will act as directed by the central leaders."

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Mozammel Haque Bahadur, the joint general secretary of the Bandarban district Awami League, emphasised that the strength of the opponent was inconsequential. 

He stated that they have made comprehensive preparations for the upcoming election, positioning themselves to secure a seventh consecutive victory for the AL candidate.

During the 2018 elections, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing emerged victorious in the Bandarban constituency across all 176 polling centers. 

He garnered 142,223 votes, symbolised by a boat. 

His BNP counterpart, Saching Pru Jerry, secured 58,047 votes with the sheaf of paddy symbol, while the Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate, Md Shawkatul Islam, received 1,003 votes represented by the hand fan symbol.

The 12th parliamentary election is scheduled to take place on January 7, as announced by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on November 15.

The Bandarban hill district has seven upazilas and two municipalities with a total of 22.88 lakh voters.