Zila Parishad: First ever polls; AL to win it
Awami League dissidents have thrown a challenge at their party-supported chairman candidates by joining the upcoming district council elections in at least 40 districts.
The AL favourites, however, would face weaker candidates backed by Jatiya Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Party (Manju), Gono Forum and Bangladesh Nationalist Front in some districts. Together, the parties, except the AL, have backed just 18 grassroots leaders to contest for the chairman posts.
The BNP is not participating in the December 28 polls, first ever elections to the zila parishads in Bangladesh. The party alleges that “the election process goes against the constitution as the polls would not have direct participation of voters”.
According to the District Council (Amendment) Act, 2016, only the elected representatives of different local government bodies will vote to elect a chairman, 15 general members and five women members in reserved seats in each district council.
Most of the representatives belong to the ruling AL.
The elections are taking place in 61 districts. The three other districts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts -- Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban -- are run by separate laws.
AL-backed chairman candidates are set to get elected unopposed in 12 districts as they are the lone contenders for the posts.
Those districts are Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur, Natore, Sirajganj, Bagerhat, Netrokona, Joypurhat, Bhola, Jhalakathi, Thakurgaon and Jessore, according to our correspondents there.
Soon after the announcement on the polls, top district-level AL leaders expressed their desire to run for the chairman posts, and a total of 700 such leaders submitted applications seeking party blessings.
Later, the AL high command picked 61 of them for the 61 chairman posts.
The move, however, angered many of those deprived of the party support and 85 of them decided to step into the electoral race, defying the party decision.
For example, in Gopalganj, which is the home district of AL president Sheikh Hasina, the party backed district AL President Chowdhury Emdadul Huq for the chairman post. However, local AL leader Mollah Obaidullah Baki is also vying for the post.
In Noakhali, home district of AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, two vice-presidents of the district unit of AL -- Dr Jafarullah and Fakrul Islam Montu -- are challenging the party-supported candidate ABM Jafrullah.
In Pabna, district AL Senior Vice-president Rezaul Rahim got party support, but he will have to face two party dissidents. One of them is Mahjabin Shirin Piya, daughter of Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif and also the woman affairs secretary of Pabna district AL.
Asked, Piya told The Daily Star that she was contesting the polls ignoring party decision as “the elections were non partisan and she had enough experience in local government affairs”.
In Sunamganj, incumbent district council administrator Enamul Kabir Emon got party support. But former district unit AL general secretary Nurul Huda Mukut is also contesting for the chairman post.
"I should have got the party support as I have been working for the party for the last 30 years. I am the fittest candidate," Mukut told The Daily Star.
Contacted, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said the party was yet to take any specific decision about the rebels. "As it is a non-partisan election, Awami League didn't give any nomination. Rather, we gave our support. Now we want our party-supported candidates to win," he said.
He also said the party would take decision about the dissidents after the scrutiny of nomination papers by the returning officers.
A LUCRATIVE POST
The post of a zila parishad chairman is very prestigious and respectable at the district level. Even during the British era, many national level leaders used to become the chairmen, said eminent local government expert Dr Tofail Ahmed.
“Because of such factors, the chairman post has become lucrative and many Awami League leaders are running after it,” he told The Daily Star.
Also, the absolute power to deal with financial activities of the district councils and political prestige has prompted many AL men to contest for the posts, said local government experts.
On an average, a district council gets around Tk 5 crore to Tk 6 crore annually from the government for different development activities, including construction of roads, culvert and school-college buildings, said a senior official of the LGRD ministry.
Besides, a district council earns a huge amount of money by leasing out ferry ghats, lands, markets as well as renting out auditoriums, rest houses and others, he said.
Meanwhile, election experts fear that the use of black money can play a prominent role in the elections as the votes are very limited and fixed.
“As the number of voters here is limited, the chairman aspirants may use money to buy votes,” said Abdul Alim, director of Election Working Group (EWG).
POLLS MODE LEGALITY QUESTIONED
Voters are not allowed to exercise their franchise to elect chairmen and members of the zila parishads.
According to the Zila Parishad Act, 2000, elected representatives in union and upazila parishads, municipalities and city corporations are the electorates who will elect one chairman and 20 members, including five for women reserved seats, for each of the 61 zila parishads.
This provision was challenged with the High Court in 2000 immediately after passage of the zila parishad act.
The petitioner challenged the legality of election system as it denied voters the right to elect chairman and members of the zila parishads and labelled the provision unconstitutional.
An HC bench also issued a rule upon the government on July 19, 2000, asking it to explain why the law shall not be declared unconstitutional. The government was given four weeks to respond.
But the government did not respond to the rule and the issue still remains pending for last 16 years.
On this November 29, another writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking a stay on holding elections to district councils scheduled for December 28.
Eunus Ali Akond, a Supreme Court lawyer, submitted the petition challenging the legality of three provisions of district council law including the one for election system.
The court is likely to hear the petition today as decided earlier.
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