The government has decided that all local government elections will be held on party basis. Hence elections to upazila parishad, pourashaba, zila parishad and union parishad will be held with party symbols and banners. Some allege that this will establish a one-party system. This may also cause widespread political violence. Necessary legal provisions will be made for this purpose.
In many countries such elections are held on party basis. Since independence, these elections were held in Bangladesh on non-party basis. The Election Commission needs to be restructured for holding fair elections.
Elections under the new system will have far-reaching consequences at the grassroots level. Local civil society members will shy away from elections. Leaders and workers of the party in power may create problems for candidates from other parties in submitting nomination papers.
Many feel that it was necessary for the government to discuss with political parties before abolishing an old system. Jamaat-e-Islami will face troubles in contesting elections. They had so long been contesting in local elections. This will no longer be possible under the new system because its registration as a party has been cancelled by the Election Commission.
Legal provisions will be made to hold pourashaba elections by the next December. Election Commission says that they are always prepared to hold elections. Union parishad elections will be held in next March. The government leaders say that local body elections under the new system will be held in a festive mood.
Some countries are practising this system for many years without any intervention from the ruling parties. In our culture this may not happen. Even non-party local elections were used to be highly influenced by the ruling parties, and the administration used to keep quiet.
A change in election procedure is not enough to make the local government bodies effective. Major changes are needed in the coordination among the local bodies .A unified law should be formulated for administering all the local bodies. In Bangladesh, we have different laws for different levels of local governments which create confusion and hinder coordination among the local bodies.
Our local bodies work like in a presidential system where the chairmen dictate all the activities of these bodies. This is an anomaly as our national goverrnment follows a parliamentary system. At the local level, we should elect only members who will have the power to elect the chairmen. It will reduce the gap between the members and the chairmen and make the chairmen accountable to the council members and strengthen the decision-making process at the grassroots level with increased participation of the elected members.
Adequate funds need to be allocated for local governments. These bodies should also be given adequate manpower to execute plans and programmes. The ruling party should not interfere in the activities of the local governments.
If political parties nominate candidates in local body elections, elections will become a game of money and muscle power. The present ruling party has less influence at the grassroots level. So now they want to institutionalise party influence in the local bodies.
As Jamaat's registration as a party has been cancelled by the High Court, they will not be able to participate in the local elections. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is in disarray and divided into many factions. Under these circumstances, it will be easy for the ruling party to dominate and monopolise at the grassroots level.
Local government elections with party symbols may not produce any positive result. Under the prevailing situation, locally strong and influential persons will get party nomination. Opposition candidates will not be able to match the money and muscle power of the ruling party. It is feared that the leaders and workers of the ruling party will create problems for the opposition candidates in submitting nomination papers. There is a possibility of one-sided elections.
If we are to realise the benefits of party-basis local elections, it is necessary for the government to initiate dialogue with the opposition to reach consensus on changing the prevailing political culture to ensure that all political parties practise democratic norms and values.
The writer is an economist and columnist.
jamaluddinsyed23@yahoo.com.au
On local government elections
Syed Jamaluddin | Published: October 21, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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