Let Ducsu be the harbinger of change students need

A festive atmosphere, record turnout of voters, students buzzing with excitement—these are what marked the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) and hall union elections held on Tuesday. The high turnout demonstrated the level of anticipation surrounding the polls, with 78.36 percent of nearly 40,000 voters casting their ballots, much higher than the 2019 election that saw a 59.5 percent turnout. One could say this marks the triumphant return of a democratic exercise in DU that has incubated all major democratic movements in our history. For this, the administration, the candidates, the general students, and all others involved deserve to be commended.

The revived Ducsu will henceforth be headed by Abu Shadik Kayem, SM Farhad, and Muhammad Mohiuddin Khan, elected as vice-president, general secretary, and assistant general secretary, respectively. The trio, contesting the polls from the Islami Chhatrashibir-backed "Oikyaboddho Shikkharthi Jote" panel, achieved a landslide victory. In fact, this panel swept the polls by winning nine secretarial and 11 executive member posts. The DU student community has spoken: they have chosen the leaders they want to represent them for the next year or so. This certainly marks a dramatic shift in campus politics.

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The final act: Learning to accept election defeat

During their campaigns, Shadik, Farhad, and Mohiuddin pledged to bring a balance between education and politics, with plans to strengthen academia, work on student welfare, and turn DU into a "capacity-building hub." Now that they have won, they must make good on their election promises. We expect the new leadership to represent the entire student body and work for everyone's betterment, regardless of their political affiliations or ideologies. More importantly, we expect them to break free of the cycles of toxic politics where winning an election is viewed as tantamount to obtaining a free ticket to abusing power. Transparency and accountability must be upheld at every level of Ducsu operations.

The election has been described as acceptable and participatory by most observers. There were some complaints of irregularities, including allegations of rigging and breach of the code of conduct, but for the most part, students participated with enthusiasm and excitement. The allegations must nevertheless be investigated and actions taken accordingly. In the long run, we hope to see the election held on a regular basis, thus continuing the democratic practice of student politics at Dhaka University.

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An election that could return Ducsu to the students

The same also applies to other comparable universities, with two more student elections—at Jahangirnagar University and Rajshahi University—scheduled for today (Thursday) and on September 25, respectively. We hope to see the continuation of festivity and participatory voting at these elections as well. Thus we hope to see democratic culture and healthy practices of campus politics established at all public universities, so that differences of ideas are celebrated rather than suppressed, and positions of power are used to serve the general students, not to wield dominance over them. This hope for change, which last year's mass uprising ignited, must not be extinguished with the return of toxic campus politics.