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REPORT CARD ON MINISTERS

Less success, more controversy

SHAKHAWAT LITON
Excepting a few routine rural infrastructure development, Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan could make no headway in fulfilling his party's electoral pledges to strengthen the local government system and decentralise the administration.
On the contrary, the ministry's
controversial move to introduce Gram Sarkar (village government) and alleged widespread vote rigging and violence that marred most of the local government elections held in the last four years have but wasted away the very foundation of local governance.
Time and again, the Election Commission (EC) encountered stiff non-co-operation from Bhuiyan's ministry in its efforts to hold free and fair local government polls.
FROM PAGE 1
Ironically, when the chief election commissioner (CEC) decried the pervasive ballot rigging in the last Union Parishad elections, the ruling coalition lawmakers in parliament actually demanded of the government to expel the CEC for the complaint.
Vote rigging by the ruling alliance members went so far as to turn the 2002 Sandweep municipal election into an unparalleled farce. Not a single voter turned up at the polling centre to cast his or her vote from 8:00am to 4:00pm on the election day from shear fear of violence.
Since the 4-party coalition came to power the LGRD ministry has also been playing cat and mouse with the EC on holding the long overdue Upazila Parishad elections. Whereas, the party of which Bhuiyan is the Secretary General in its 2001 electoral manifesto had pledged, "The BNP believes in decentralisation of the administration and also believes in ensuring people's participation in all spheres of administration and development. So, we will form Upazila and Zila Parishads aiming at decentralising the administration."
BNP Chairperson, now the prime minister, Khaleda Zia also had said, "Measures will be taken to make Union Parishads more dynamic and functional."
But, in the last four years, the LGRD minister has not taken any noteworthy step towards that end.
From this lack of effort and circumvention one has but to surmise that the government may not be sincere in saying that it wants to boost the local government bodies and to let go its control over the local administration.
Many political quarters think the BNP secretary general holds the portfolio of the LGRD minister to make it easy for him to look after the organisation. They say, as the LGRD minister, he can also bolster the party units easily, undertaking local development projects using public funds.
Overall, instead of making any consequential progress, the LGRD minister in the last four years rather has reversed the wheel of the local government in utter contradiction with the BNP's electoral pledge.
GRAM SARKAR: PARTY
UNITS IN DISGUISE
Reintroduction of Gram Sarkar (GS) as the lowest rung of local government spelled disaster for the
Union Parishads, which had been holding that rank previously.
Though from the very beginning of the reinstating process in 2003 Bhuiyan has been claiming that GSs will help the UPs function effectively, but the reality was the opposite. A total of 39,786 GSs were formed amid massive irregularities and proved a big threat to UPs, forcing the UP chairs to launch a movement against the GSs.
The anomaly in GS constitution was such that even a large number of Razakars had been made members of the units under the freedom fighters' quota.
The government under its current budget has allocated Tk 60 crore for the GS bodies, which is now known to all as nothing but the ruling party's local units.
However, the Gram Sarkar Act was challenged in the High Court, as it contradicts the spirit of the constitutional provisions for local government and the court declared the act illegal.
AN ELECTION KILLED
The Sandweep municipal election in 2002 was a severe blow to the credibility of election in Bangladesh. The ruling party men terrorised the voters to such a degree that not a single vote was cast on the polling day from 8:00am to 4:00pm.
The candidates belonging to the opposition parties were driven out of the area. The EC in its 34-year history never suffered such a bizarre experience.
The EC later re-fixed the polling date and decided to deploy army personnel to ensure security of voters and candidates. But the ruling party men filed a writ petition with the High Court, seeking injunction on the election, as they could not file candidature.
That election is yet to be held.
LGRD-EC TUSSLE
The EC and the LGRD ministry locked horns twice over holding the elections to 4,223 Ups.
The first conflict was over the schedule of the polls, with the LGRD ministry refusing to assist the EC to conduct the elections according to the EC schedule. The ministry in a letter asked the EC to defer the polls by two months. As the EC refused to defer, the government even threatened to curb the EC's power in local government elections and also hinted that the EC may not get any help from the administration if it stuck to its stance.
The LGRD ministry in a gazette notification also deferred the polls by two months and wanted a new reschedule. The EC reacted sharply and termed the act 'unlawful'.
After a weeklong stand off, the EC finally surrendered to government pressure and shifted the polls by three weeks.
The government again reacted sharply over the EC decision to deploy army personnel to ensure law and order in the UP elections. Despite repeated requests from the EC, the ruling coalition outright refused to let the EC have any army personnel, and the polls were held in January to March 2003 without them.
In absence of the desired security measures, frequent electoral violence killed 80 people. Besides ballot rigging by ruling party men frustrated the EC's efforts to conduct a free and fair election.
CAT & MOUSE GAME WITH EC
The LGRD minister could not reinstate the Upazila Parishad system as he faced severe opposition from his cabinet colleagues. Among others, Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman and Communications Minister Nazmul Huda stood against the Upazila Parishad system, forgetting their electoral pledge.
As a result, the cabinet committee on Upazila system could not make any positive decision to revive the vital tier of local government. And there is no probability of it during the rest of the alliance government's tenure.
The government really played a cat-and-mouse game with the EC on holding Upazila Parishad elections. After assuming the office on October 10, 2001, the LGRD minister requested the EC to take preparation for holding the elections and assured it that the authority to declare polls schedule will be returned to it.
In the past, the EC enjoyed the authority to announce the schedule of Upazila elections. But the Awami League government vested the authority with the LGRD ministry to avoid some legal crisis.
Acting on the assurance, the EC in an unprecedented move on November 6, 2001 declared that it would announce the Upazila Parishad elections schedule on December 31, 2001 and that the elections would be held in a staggered manner over 10 days.
But the LGRD minister has failed to date to act up to his promise and so no
election has been held in the last four years.
The government has already taken over a dozen time-extensions from the court to hold elections.
The fate of Zila Parishad however has been more unlucky compared to the Upazila Parishad, as no discussion has ever been held on Zila Parishad polls.
CITY CORPORATION POLLS
Elections to the three city corporations of Dhaka, Khulan and Rajshahi were held on April 25 in 2002 amid boycott of the opposition parties.
In Rajshahi City Corporation polls contest was between ruling alliance candidate and opposition backed citizen committee candidate. At a meeting on March 12, 2003 of the EC, the then CEC commented that the RCC polls had been 'heavily rigged'.
The Chittagong City Corporation polls held in this year has become a glaring example on how the government administration interferes in the local government election. Irked by the partisan role of the then Chittagong Police Commissioner, Amjad Hossain, the EC asked the government to withdraw the police boss from his duty as the EC found him guilty for his partisan role. Finally the police commissioner was withdrawn from election duties.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND ALLEGATION!
The LGRD minister has claimed his achievements in infrastructure development. The ministry claimed a total of 11,262km road has been made pucca and 15,440km rehabilitated or repaired in the past four years.
Besides, small and large bridges/culverts of a total length of 137,209 metres have been built, 500 growth centres or markets and 27 bus terminals have been developed, 804 union council complexes have been constructed, 28 ghats, 6,573 sanitary latrines and a large number of deep tube-wells have been installed. In addition, a small irrigation programme is being implemented in 91,055 hectares of land.
Eleven new Upazilas, two new city corporations and 50 new municipalities have been created. Free and fair elections have been held in 67 municipalities and six city corporations after solving longstanding legal complexities.
But the achievements the LGRD ministry claimed are nothing but a routine work of the ministry.