Local polls to be partisan

The LGRD ministry seeks changes to the local government laws for allowing political parties to nominate candidates in local body elections.

It will place a proposal to this effect at today's cabinet meeting for approval, LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told The Daily Star yesterday.

If the laws are amended, elections to zila, upazila and union parishads, city corporations and municipalities will be partisan just like the parliamentary polls.

Currently, grassroots leaders of political parties can contest local body polls but they cannot use their parties' electoral symbols. And the parties extend support to them but cannot openly campaign for their men.

The changes will remove the restrictions on political parties in nominating candidates and engaging openly in electioneering for their favourites.

According to the proposal to be made, political parties registered with the Election Commission will be allowed to contest the local body elections by nominating their candidates. 

The Jamaat-e-Islami may not be able to contest local body polls as its registration with the EC has been scrapped by the High Court. The matter is now pending with the Supreme Court.  

In defence of making the polls partisan, the LGRD minister said, "The new system will further strengthen democratic system and practices at the grassroots level."

Elections to local government bodies are non-partisan according to the existing laws, but in reality they are held in a partisan manner, he said. 

The minister mentioned that if parliament doesn't go into session before December, the President could promulgate an ordinance amending the laws. And the upcoming municipality polls would then be held in a partisan manner.

The EC is now making preparations to hold the municipality polls across the country in December.

Since assuming power in 2009, the ruling AL has been advocating partisan local body polls. On February 12 last year, the AL Central Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, unanimously agreed that all local body polls should be partisan.

If political parties are allowed to participate in local body elections, the elected representatives will implement their parties' political commitments, LGRD ministry sources said quoting the proposal to be made before the cabinet.

This will encourage them to act more responsibly and to be more active in providing services. Besides, the parties would strictly monitor the activities of their representatives, they said.

The BNP, however, has opposed the government move, terming it a conspiracy.

At a press conference on Friday, BNP Spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said the move to make local body polls partisan is a “blue print” of the government to divert public attention from the demand for holding national elections immediately.

A number of AL leaders believe if local body elections are made partisan, it will help the party minimise intra-party conflicts and reduce the number of rebel candidates during polls. 

Since 2009, the AL couldn't achieve desired success in local body polls because of its rebel candidates. This was the case also in the upazila elections held between February and March last year, they added.