& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

upcoming uP elections: Justified enthusiasm?

JiKKE BASTiAANSSEN
From the 25th of January to the 16th of March 2003, local elections in 4228 Union Parishads (UP) will be held. The UP is the lowest tier of the government administration for which elections are held. The upcoming UP elections are a big happening; posters are spread all over the country, speeches are delivered, tea and tobacco is offered to win votes, contestants go from door to door, and it is the talk of the day at the tea-stalls. Elections generally create a lot of enthusiasm; the 1997 UP elections had a voter turnout of 80% and the 2001 national election one of 75.6%, according to the EC. These very high figures illustrate the involvement of the people with the elections.
One might raise the question that more than a year after the national elections, these local government elections are not of great importance. After all it is the national government that determines the country's policy and possesses the primary executive power. This is true of course, but there are other characteristics that make the local government elections very important, maybe even more important than the national elections.
Foremost, the Union Parishad is close to the people and provides them a way to get in touch with their representatives directly. Politics is not something unknown, happening far away, but people from the same locality, trying to improve the quality of their community through different programmes. In a country where 50.6% males and 69.8% females are illiterate (UNESCO 2000 estimate of people above 15 that are illiterate) and a vast number of people are undernourished and living below the national poverty line, a small distance between the elected officials and the community is important. The social stratification of Bangladesh demands for an effective and powerful local government.
National politics is far away for the rural community, most of them cannot
go to the capital to take part in the policy process, and cannot read about politics in the newspapers. For them it is more important that their basic needs, food and warm clothes to start with, are addressed immediately. The local government is pre-eminently suited to set up programmes to respond to the need of the community. The UP members are given the authority to enroll inhabitants of their constituency in food-for-work projects, distribute social welfare-cards, provide health services, education, run agricultural programmes, develop and maintain infrastructure, maintain law and order and keep the registers of births, deaths and marriages. In this way the work of the Union Parishad has direct impact on the lives of common people.
Furthermore local government elections are important because they empower people regardless of party politics. The UP Council consists of a chairman and twelve members that are directly elected. There are nine general members, one for each ward, and three female members that are each representing three combined wards. Every Bangladeshi above the age of twenty-five, that is a resident of the ward, can run for the election of UP member. By granting the right to run for elections to all citizens, the people are directly empowered. Besides, women empowerment is prioritized by reserving three special seats in the UP Council.
Although the Union Parishad could be a very well functioning part of the government-apparatus, this is not the reality. There are certain obstacles that undermine the effectiveness of the UP.
The actual power of the Union Parishad is limited. The UP relates upward to the appointed Upazila Nirhabi Officer (UNO) and at the district level to the appointed Deputy Commissioner (DC). At the national level, the UP falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD). Other ministries can also issue directives to the UP on various topics. A lot of time of the UP members is dedicated to fulfilling the governments mandate and following the directives issued upon them by higher authorities. Generally there is not much scope left to respond to the community's need and develop local policies.
There also exists competition amongst the unions belonging to the same upazila to get the approvals and the funds for their project from the LGRD. Because the Chairman of the UP can only submit a few projects to the LGRD, there exists lobbying to prioritize the projects of each member within the union first. This make it difficult for the UP members to respond the community's needs, because only a few projects will be able to pass through the various selection phases and receive funds in the end. There exists a high risk of corruption too, since every member and union aim to get their project prioritized and thus subsidized.
In addition, it is sad to notice that there exists a lack of awareness among the UP members about their roles and responsibilities. The UP members are supposed to receive a training from the National Institute of Local Government (NILG), but this training generally does not include the duties of representation and does not take into account the differences in educational background that exist among the newly elected UP members. Moreover the secretary of the LGRD, Mr. Siddiqui, stated that the NILG, using its optimum training facility, only has the capacity to train 5% of the UP members within the next five years. Therefore, newly elected officials depend on their predecessors to learn about their roles and responsibilities as representatives. Luckily, about eight NGOs took the initiative to develop trainings for local government representatives to diminish the gap and increase awareness among the UP members.
A last obstacle that needs to be discussed, is the fairness of the election process. In the past, incidences of vote rigging occurred. Brokers and musclemen tried to bribe or coerce voters to cast votes for certain candidates, access to the polling boots has been obstructed and/or denied, voters' lists had errors, ballot boxes were found unsealed or disappeared, false votes have been cast, etc. Fair elections are crucial for the installment of legitimate representatives that can be responsive to the community.
At this moment, many obstacles, some not even mentioned yet, are obstructing the adequate functioning of the Union Parishad. This is unfortunate since the UP is exceptionally suited to perform policy tasks considering the social stratification of Bangladesh. So what to think about the enthusiasm for these upcoming UP-elections, is this enthusiasm justified? In a way it is, it shows the involvement of the people for their nation. So I like to encourage all the voters to not loose their enthusiasm and to take actively part in the elections. The UP as a local government institution definitely has potential. But, it needs to be admitted that there is still a long way to go. The current functioning of the UP is absolutely not something to be thrilled about.