Cabinet clears bill on holding city polls within 3 months before tenure expires

Election to any city corporation will have to be held within three months -- instead of six months -- before the tenure expires, according to the draft of the Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, today approved in principle the draft law, reducing the timeframe for holding city elections.

PM Hasina joined the virtual meeting through a videoconference from her official residence Gono Bhaban while other cabinet members joined from the Secretariat.

"Six months or 180 days is practically a long time… Even after taking oath, they (elected representatives) have to wait for taking charge. So, the bill was placed to bring a change to it. Now, the election will have to be held within three months (90 days)," said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam at a press briefing after the meeting.

As per the draft law, the charges will be handed over to the newly-elected representatives within 15 working days after they take oath, he said. 

"They (newly-elected representatives) will have to sit in the maiden meeting within 15 days after they take oath and thus the former corporation will be abolished with the arrangement of the meeting," the cabinet secretary said.

According to the proposed law, mayors and councillors of the city corporations will be able to enjoy one-month leave per year instead of the existing three months.

"The three-month yearly leave for mayor and councillors was curtailed to one month as the Cabinet thinks it (three months) is too long. Though they are public representatives, they have executive and regular functions, and financial authority," the secretary also said.

The Cabinet also approved the draft of Preferential Trade Agreement to be signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan, while it ratified the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific.

The cabinet secretary said 18 Bhutanese goods have been enjoying duty-free access to Bangladeshi market since 2010, while 90 Bangladeshi products enjoy duty-free access to Bhutanese market. Later, Bhutan sought duty-free access for some more products to the Bangladeshi market.

Besides, the Cabinet cleared a proposal to celebrate August 8 every year as the birthday of Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib at the state-level and include the day in the Ka Serial (list) of the gazette notification issued by the Cabinet Division.