The 12th national parliamentary election was held in Bangladesh on January 7 where the ruling Awami League won an overwhelming victory. As a result, the party is going to form the government for the fourth consecutive term. Although 28 parties participated in the elections, only 5 parties were able to win seats. Independent candidates won a record 61 seats to take second spot.  Jatiya Party, the third-largest national party, won 11 seats. Along with the Awami League-led 14-party alliance, candidates of JASAD and Workers Party won only two seats. Despite fielding as many as135 candidates the Bangladesh Trinamool Party lost badly. 

A total of 1,969 candidates contested in the election. Of these 437 were independent candidates, most of whom were said to be shadow candidates of the Awami League.

The large number of independent candidates winning in this election has shown new thinking in Bangladesh's politics. And the time may have come for political parties to rethink their candidate selection process.

Vote for individual competence

One of the key messages from these results is that people are now starting to move away from the tendency to vote for party symbols and are beginning to analyze candidate competency and suitability. At one time rural people used to largely vote seeing the election symbol rather than the merit of the candidate. However, these results indicate that voters have started to assess individual competence rather than just the symbol. Evidence of this can be seen in the defeat of 61 candidates with the boat symbol of the ruling party despite having such a powerful and visible election symbol.

The second message is for the candidates. It is that no matter how wealthy, ministerial position or senior party position a candidate holds, if they do not maintain a good relationship with the voters, the people will reject them in the elections. There was a belief in our politics that victory was only possible if you had the backing of powerful political parties. The results this time will shake that belief. Now candidates will realize that they need to maintain a strong bond with voters to win. The days of just showing up with party backing and assuming victory are over.

The third message is for the political parties. The perspective of the political parties regarding nomination needs urgent change. The parties used to nominate based on financial capability, family background or past political history. However, this election saw many defeats of candidates who were personally very wealthy, belonged to political families or were multiple-time MPs. 

Lesson for political parties

Political parties now must keep in mind while nominating that the acceptability of their nominated candidate among the grassroots voters of that constituency is crucial. If parties ignore public perception and nominate candidates unilaterally like before, voters will respond appropriately like they did in this election.

Overall, the victory of the large number of independent candidates in this election has sent a sharp message. If politicians and political parties of Bangladesh fail to comprehend this message, then no matter how powerful the election symbol is or how wealthy and established the candidate's family is, the political future of that candidate will be uncertain.

(The writer is a Dhaka-based columnist. Views are personal. He can be reached at fbzahir@gmail.com)