One hurrah from upazila polls
Local development sees little hope as lawmakers tighten grip on local govt system

Shakhawat Liton & Hasan Jahid Tusher

People got the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in the upazila parishad polls after long 19 years. Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder

The Awami League-led government seems to have forgotten its electoral pledge to strengthen the local government system; it has rather been doing quite the opposite since coming to power in last January.

In its first year, it took some measures that would make the upazila parishads dependent on the lawmakers.

It abolished the local government commission, which was formed to ensure independence of the local bodies.

It did not take any initiative to see elections to union parishads and municipalities and form zila parishads (district councils), the top layer of the three-tier local government system.

When time came, the government neither ratified the local government ordinances proclaimed during the caretaker government rule nor had new laws passed.

In the absence of laws, the Election Commission could not begin work to hold elections to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), union parishads and municipalities, which were due for up to two years.

It meant those who were way past their five-year tenure could still continue in office.

Upazila parishads however were lucky in that they had elections after 19 years on January 22 thanks to the groundwork by the last caretaker government.

Earlier in August 2008, the EC conducted elections to four city corporations--Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet--and nine municipalities.

The EC and the caretaker government had in fact planned to complete all due elections to local government institutions before the parliamentary polls. But they could not proceed for strong opposition from the political parties.

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The major parties including AL had promised to ensure the local polls after the general election.

But taking office on January 6, AL showed little interest to make good on its electoral pledge

It did not ratify the upazila parishad ordinance within whose framework upazila parishads were constituted through the January election.

After the ordinance ceased to have effect on February 25, the government placed a bill in parliament reviving the Upazila Parishad Act-1998, which was repealed during the caretaker government rule.

The bill was passed after over a month, including some new provisions that, among others, made it mandatory for the parishads to take advice from the lawmakers who would act as advisers to the upazila parishads.

By empowering the MPs to interfere in the parishads' functions, the government has ignored its election manifesto where it promised to make zila and upazila parishads self-reliant and autonomous.

Around a year into their constitution, 481 upazila parishads could not start functioning properly, as there are no rules of business, defining the role of the chairmen and vice-chairmen.

Currently, the local admin officials are carrying out the parishads' jobs.

Frustrated, the elected representatives have been clamouring for their rights to run the upazila parishads without interference from the lawmakers and government organs.

The government also did not ratify the three ordinances on city corporations, union parishads and municipalities.

Promulgated during the caretaker government rule, the ordinances ceased to have effect on February 25. New laws to fill their place came as late as October. Meantime, the local bodies ran without any laws.

The EC could not begin preparations for elections to the city corporations, union parishads and municipalities at the beginning of the year due to the absence of laws. It began updating the voter list countrywide in last June.

The now defunct ordinances had provisions requiring those elected to city corporations, upazila parishads and municipalities to resign party posts, if they had any, before taking oath.

Despite reservations of the political parties, the caretaker government introduced the provisions to free the local governments from partisan politics.

But the laws enacted by the current parliament do not have any such provisions.

The new legislation on union parishads retains the provision introducing ward assemblies to ensure people's participation. But overall it means more bureaucratic control over the parishads.

The government however did better by declining to incorporate the recommendations of a parliamentary body for allowing lawmakers to be advisers to city corporations and municipalities.

Meanwhile, uncertainty over functioning of the zila parishads stays.

In the draft Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers placed in parliament in September, the government however promised to make the district councils functional in next three to four years.

Another decision of the government, which seemed contrary to its election pledge, was not allowing the local government commission to exist.

The government made the commission non-existent by not ratifying the ordinance that formed the commission during the caretaker government tenure.

One good thing was an increase in the budgetary allocations for the local bodies and taking of various projects that include building infrastructure and training programmes for union parishad representatives.