3 local govt election bills amended

Parliament last night passed three bills allowing partisan elections to the mayoral post at city corporation level and to the chairman post at upazila parishad and union parishad levels.

Any independent candidate will also be able to contest for those posts on meeting specific criteria.

However, elections to the councillor, vice-chairman and member posts will remain non-partisan.

Piloted by LGRD Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, the three bills -- Local Government (Union Parishad) (Amendment) Bill 2015, Local Government (Upazila) (Amendment) Bill 2015, and Local Government (City Corporation) (Amendment) Bill 2015 -- were separately passed in voice votes.

A number of opposition and independent MPs opposed the bills citing discrimination between the mayoral and councillor candidates, and between chairman and member aspirants as councillor and member aspirants will not be able to contest under political party banner.

Earlier on November 19, the House passed the local government (municipality) amendment bill allowing elections only to the mayoral post under political party banner.

Previously, political parties could not nominate any candidates in local government body polls. They could only extend their support to a particular candidate.

But in practice local units of political parties were put to work for such candidates. The parties' participation was therefore all but official, said ministry sources.

In all of the three original bills, there were provisions of holding elections at all the posts of city corporation, upazila parishad and union parishad under political banner.

But during scrutiny the parliamentary standing committee on LGRD ministry recommended holding elections to the mayoral post at city corporation level and to the chairman post at upazila parishad and union parishad levels on party line.