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Ctg Mayoral Election

The hype and the reality

Muhammad Nurul Huda
The extra enthusiasm witnessed before and after the recent mayoral election of the so-called commercial capital of Bangladesh does not come as a surprise for those that are aware of our political culture. What perhaps had struck many is that an intensely political personality has been humbled at the hustings by a not-so-politically committed person. That may or may not be a significant development in our situation particularly the electoral politics but the reality is that despite disclaimers from the two main political parties mayoral election has in effect, been contested on a political party basis.
The question under the circumstances is, are local bodies' election very important in so far as it impacts the governance scenario and the socio-economic development? Alternatively, can we really achieve substantive democratic governance with-
out adequately empowering the local elected institutions? Such queries and apprehensions acquire relevance in our polity wherein there is a noticeable deviation or departure from the earlier electoral pronouncements to effectively strengthen local government.
In trying to see things in perspective, it would be relevant to comment that public administration in our environment takes place in a setting where political power struggles blur the vision of administrators. Born out of colonial traditions and trying to respond to the demands of changed circumstances and times, administrative systems encounter tremendous pressures. The system has been used to further narrow interests of the rulers and privileged groups and as a result the public is alienated from the administration.
While our local bodies enjoy a degree of operational autonomy they are in no way independent of the national government of
the country. There are a number of areas of interaction between a local body and the government which cover legal, operational and financial matters as well as control and supervision by the government.
The local body's territorial jurisdiction, the functions it can perform and the taxes it can impose, are all determined by national legislations. Its basic features are carved by such legislation and additionally its activities are also guided and supervised by departments of the national government. Therefore, there is clearly a patron-client relationship between the national government and the local government.
The national government retains the power to give directions to local bodies. In exercise of this power, the national government issues circulars and directives on various aspects to the local government bodies. Apart from the general powers of legislation, rule making, regulation, approval and giving directions, there are also specific instruments of control in the hands of the national government.
The national government prescribes to the local bodies administrative details relating to various departments and the types and registers and forms that they should maintain in their administrative operations. The government also issues circulars and directives by means of which it indicates the policy that local bodies have to follow.
The reality on ground is that attempts at devolution of authority to local bodies have
been frustrated on account of the instability of the national government. In fact in out situation, major changes of government characterised by long authoritarian rule, punctuated by spells of democratisation have not helped the growth of an ethos favourable to the nurturing of local government institutions.
Unfortunately, with the change of government the policy on local government also kept changing. Such change, it is alleged was generally dictated by the imperative of legitimising and broadening the base of power holders in the national government.
The sad commentary is that local government has not been given a chance to act as a continuing entity in Bangladesh. The national government has not effectively formulated a definite set of policies regarding local government. In our case concepts like “local self-government” and “devolution of authority” do not carry much meaning.
A mere supra-legal cover for the local bodies will not strengthen its base and functioning. There has to be a broad consensus among those in power and those aspiring to it regarding the overall political setup in the country and the role of local government bodies therein. In the long run, popular participation and social transformation will hopefully ensure growth of healthy local government.
Muhammad Nurul Huda is a columnist for The Daily Star.