The influence of businessmen is increasingly evident in local government elections, leading to a dominance of personal interest or profit-centered politics over public welfare, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) found out while analyzing the affidavits of candidates for the Sixth Upazila Parishad Election-2024 (1st Phase).

The anti-corruption organization also noted a growing tendency to view elections as an investment opportunity ignoring public interest, even at the grassroots level.

According to TIB's analysis of candidate affidavits, the growing influence of businessmen in local government elections is similar to the national election. The proportion of candidates with business backgrounds has risen by 8 percentage points compared to the fourth election, reaching 56 percent.

Among these candidates, approximately 69.86% of chairman candidates, 66.59 percent of vice chairman candidates, and 24.37% of female vice chairman candidates are involved in businesses. Additionally, 19.5% of candidates listing housewife/housekeeper as their profession derive income from business ventures.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said, in Bangladesh, politics has become a game of grabbing power, with personal gain trumping the needs of the people. Political parties, which should be bastions of democracy, prioritize power struggles over principles like following the law and respecting party decisions.

“Many see politics as a path to riches, leading to fierce competition that undermines fair play. There's a question mark over how businessmen entering politics are acquiring their wealth and influence,” he said.

“Sadly, those who want a political system that serves the people are becoming increasingly rare, pushed aside by the relentless pursuit of power,” he added.

In continuation of the analysis of the national parliamentary election, TIB conducted dashboard analysis and reviewed affidavits of candidates participating in Upazila Parishad elections.

Analysis of affidavits from the first phase of Upazila elections revealed a significant increase in movable assets among elected Upazila Parishad representatives compared to parliamentarians.

Over a 5-year period, the growth rate of movable assets among parliamentarians reached a staggering 3,065%, while Upazila Parishad chairman witnessed an increase of over 4,200%.

Furthermore, the income of a chairman saw a maximum growth of 3,319% over five years and an astounding 18,233% over 10 years. Movable assets experienced a growth of 4,251%, with the highest increase in assets belonging to wives and dependents recorded at 12,400%

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman termed the results of the analysis as shocking, and said, “From the analysis, we see that the earnings of many candidates have increased astonishingly, and in some cases, the rate of increase of income and wealth is even higher than that of national election candidates.”

He also said that there are also doubts whether the information provided in the affidavits are legit or correct. “Some candidates have presented very low income, which is unbelievable,” he added.

The analysis of affidavits also portrayed how at least nine candidates own more land than the legal limit of 100 bigha or 33 acres. Moreover, 23.41% candidates have loans or liabilities. Among them, the highest amount of loan is Tk 1,528 crore.

The analysis further shows that 16.64% candidates in the first phase of the Upazila elections have been accused in legal cases. On the other hand, only 7% of candidates of the first phase of Upazila Elections are multi-millionaires based on movable assets.

Apart from them, around 9% candidates have movable assets less than a crore taka. Among chairman position aspirants, 94 candidates are multi-millionaires. Compared to the previous election, that number has increased almost threefold (37 multi-millionaires in the 5th election).

Among the vice-chairman candidates 17 are multi-millionaires, while 6 candidates are multi-millionaires among women vice-chairman aspirants. In both cases, the numbers have increased by almost three folds.

Other than that, 198 chairman candidates earn a minimum of a million BDT annually, which is 35.23 percent of the total candidates. This is almost 2.5 times that of the election held 5 years ago. Likewise, the number of vice-chairman and women vice-chairman with similar incomes have increased by almost three times.