Election Research

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The performance of political parties heavily depends on their agents i.e. electoral candidates. There is not much existing information which exists in analyzing the difference between the ideal and actual practices of selecting electoral candidates. The candidate selection process in Bangladesh is generally perceived as being dependant on the individual’s financial influence.

This study is extremely important since it analyzed whether recent Election reforms resulted in any significant change in the procedure of selecting the candidates. 

Key Reforms after 1/11

• Mandatory registration of political parties.
• Redistricting of constituencies.
• Creation of a photo-attached digitized electoral roll.
• Incorporation of significant changes in the “Representation of the People’s Order”

Nomination process

• Constituents lack a clear understanding of the candidate’s nomination. The assumption is that the party selects the best qualified person.
• Findings reveal that the nomination process did not follow the Election Commission (EC) guidelines, since the central level of power took decisions without taking votes into consideration.

Campaign process

• Trends such as “miking” and “postering” remained part of the process, but the use of CDs and grassroots meetings at the village level were new approaches.
• Key Campaign Issues: For Awami League - price hikes; corruption of others; war criminals. For BNP - Comparison with the last caretaker government; history of terrorism during AL rule.   

Voter behavior

• National ID cards positively impacted voters since they believed fake voting would end.
• The people were most responsive to price hike issues, rather than war criminal issues.
• Generally, mass voters prioritize the party symbol rather than candidates

Researchers

Ferdous Jahan, Lead Researcher

Asif M. Shahan

Mamunur Rashid, Research Associate

Muhammad Nabil Zuberi, Research Assistant