Politicians holding party posts cannot hold city corp, municipality posts
The caretaker government has finally made laws that bar political leaders having party posts from holding offices in city corporations and municipalities.
The new laws say political leaders elected to any posts in city corporations and municipalities will have to resign from their party posts before taking over as elected representatives to such local government bodies.
President Iajuddin Ahmed last week promulgated two ordinances on the formation and functions of city corporations and municipalities.
The ordinances give the Election Commission (EC) sweeping authorities to formulate all sorts of rules for elections to these local government bodies, and also specify a code of conduct for candidates in the elections.
Moreover, the EC is now making election rules providing that leaders cannot use their political identities and parties' names in polls campaigns for posts of mayor or councillor of city corporations and municipalities, sources in the EC said. So, political leaders who will be elected to six city corporations with around 300 wards and 309 municipalities with over 3,000 wards will have to resign from their party posts.
The caretaker government has come up with the new laws in an effort to free local government bodies from partisan politics. But political parties strongly oppose this move.
Similar provisions are likely to be incorporated also in upazila parishad ordinance, sources in the LGRD ministry said.
Talking to reporters yesterday, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said the EC has received copies of the two ordinances on city corporations and municipalities.
“We will now try to make election rules on city corporations and municipalities in a week,” he said.
Meanwhile, the plans to hold elections to four city corporations and some municipalities in the third week of July, and elections to Dhaka City Corporation by the end of August or September.
The EC also plans to hold the long due polls to upazila parishads before the ninth parliamentary election scheduled to be held in the third week of December this year.
As per the new ordinances, elected representatives will have to submit their wealth statements to officials nominated by the government before their swearing-in.
The new laws also contain a set of stringent provisions on qualifications and disqualifications of candidates in elections to city corporations and municipalities.
Under these laws, convicted war criminals are barred from contesting polls.
Comments