Mayors and councillors of city corporations and municipalities will be allowed to hold political party posts as the new bills for enacting laws on the local government bodies removed the restrictions imposed earlier on them to do so.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam is scheduled to place the two bills seeking to enact laws on city corporations and municipalities to reinforce the effectiveness of the two ordinances promulgated by the immediate-past caretaker government, excluding some provisions.

The minister has already placed a bill in parliament seeking to revive Upazila Parishad Act 1998 with some amendments instead of ratifying the upazila parishad ordinance.

The upazila parishad bill did not impose any restriction on upazila chairmen and vice chairmen to hold party’ posts, though the restriction was imposed by the ordinance.

Similarly in the ordinances ■f local government (city corporation) and local government (municipality), the interim government imposed restrictions on the mayors and councillors to hold party posts in a bid to free the local government

institutions from partisan influence.

As per the provisions of the now-defunct ordinances, mayors and councillors elect would have to resign from party posts if they hold any before taking the oath to their offices.

But the new bills, though aimed at reinforcing the effectiveness of the ordinances, do not have the provisions that imposed restrictions on elected representatives on holding the party posts.

The ordinances ceased to have effect on February 25, as they were not ratified in the parliament within the stipulated timeframe.

The Daily Star managed copies of the bills from the parliament secretariat.

The bills, however, will propose to reinforce a significant provision made in the ordinances empowering the city corporations and municipalities to ask tutorial schools, coaching centres and private hospitals run under their territories to get them registered with a certain amount of fees.

The defunct ordinances made the provisions to increase

the income of the local governmentinstitutions.

The bills will also propose to support another significant provision of the ordinance asking the local government bodies to ensure people's access to information on their activities.

The new bills include the-provisions empowering the Election Commission to formulate rules to conduct elections to city corporations and municipalities.