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MPs' advisory role to create chaos

Upazila chairmen express anger over provisions curbing their powers

Rakib Hasnet Suman
A good number of upazila parishads might have difficulty functioning properly as they will have more than one lawmaker as advisers as per the upazila bill passed on Monday.
"Due to the latest delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, more than 100 upazilas are made up of areas falling in two constituencies and so they might get two lawmakers as advisers,” Tofael Ahmed, a former member of the local government commission, told The Daily Star yesterday.
Activities of the parishads might be hindered if the advisers were at odds over any issue regarding local development, he pointed out.
There are 300 lawmakers [excluding those elected in women's reserved seats] against 482 upazilas across the country. This leaves each MP 1.6 upazilas to take care of as adviser.
The much-talked about bill, says the members of parliament will be advisers to upazila councils in their constituencies, and upazila officials shall take advice from them. Meanwhile, the upazila chairmen's association met in the capital last night to discuss the bill.
Meeting sources said the chairmen want the prime minister to intervene immediately to resolve the issue.
If the government fails to address their concern through a gazette notification they would go to courts of law to challenge the provisions that give the lawmakers sweeping powers over the parishads.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the association's co-coordinators Harun-or-Rashid Hawlader and Badiuzzaman Badsha urged the government to take immediate measures to remove the provisions that curb the upazila parishads' independence.
Hawlader told The Daily Star, “For the sake of a strong and independent local government system, the bill should have been passed as it was approved by the cabinet.”
Criticising the new legislation, Savar upazila Meanwhile, taking advantages of this slow pace of tire reorganising process, district-level leaders are lobbying to see themselves on the convening committees.
BNP Joint Secretary General Goyeshwar Chandra Roy said BNP could not dissolve the committees by the April 7 dead -line due to the April 2 byelections and the illness of Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
"I hope the party's decision will be implemented within a day or two," Goyeshwar said talking to The Daily Star yesterday.
Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, adviser to the BNP chairperson, said he does not know anything about the standingcommittee decision, as he is not a member of the standing committee.
However, he said, "1 heard that the reorganising process would start before Pahela Baishakh [April 14)."
Earlier, the standing committee held a series of meetings TO discuss tvb h rtI ^511 lift FUTA six BNP teams on party activities in six divisions and decided to dissolve district committees.
Most of the 75 BNP organisational districts do not have a valid committee.
"The sooner the party dissolves the district committees the easier it will be to revamp the party," observed a central leader.
According to party leaders, the convening committees will get two months' time to hold a council meeting that will elect members of the organisational district committee.
BNP insiders said many leaders known to be corrupt and controversial are also in die race to get posts of conveners and joint conveners of those committees.