The Daily Star
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has criticised the government’s decision to appoint administrators to 42 zilla parishad (district councils), alleging the move seeks to bring the local government system under partisan and bureaucratic control.
The party’s secretary general, Mia Golam Porwar, made the allegation in a statement issued today, protesting the government’s decision.
According to the statement, the Ministry of Local Government issued a gazette notification appointing party-affiliated individuals as administrators to 42 zilla parishad across the country.
Porwar said the newly formed BNP government had taken a position contrary to public expectations from the outset through this decision.
He said that running local government institutions through representatives elected by the people is a fundamental principle of democracy.
However, the government is ignoring that democratic process and attempting to control the local government system through the appointment of administrators, he said.
The Jamaat leader further said that the government’s move, under the pretext of strengthening local government, would in fact weaken democracy.
In the statement, Porwar said the aspiration of the July uprising was to ensure a discrimination-free and democratic society, ensure justice for the genocide, and advance necessary reforms. As the first step toward that goal, the 13th National Parliamentary Election and a referendum had been held.
He said people naturally expected that the next step would be to elect representatives to local government bodies through a democratic process. The Election Commission had also given positive indications about holding local government elections, he added.
In such a situation, appointing office-bearers of the ruling party as administrators to 42 district councils shows that the government has taken a stance against public expectations, Porwar said. He also expressed concern that the move could be part of a plan to delay local government elections.
Porwar demanded that the government immediately cancel the decision and arrange free, fair and neutral elections to the district councils, handing over responsibilities to representatives elected by the people.
He also called on pro-democracy citizens to raise their voices to restore people’s rights in the local government system and emphasised strengthening movements for the establishment of democratic rights.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/jamaat-criticises-govt-move-appointing-administrators-42-zilla-parishad-4130091
