The government is disinclined to hold the elections to the two Dhaka city corporations and zila parishads fearing defeat of the Awami League candidates, discussants told a roundtable yesterday.

The fear might have come from the ruling party's downfall in the elections to five city corporations last year and many upazila parishads this year, said M Hafizuddin Khan, president of Shushashoner Jannoy Nagorik (SHUJAN), which organised the discussion at the capital's Jatiya Press Club.

" 1 think the government wants to confirm the victory of its party men. That's why, the polls are held up," he said, adding that the complexity over demarcation was nothing but a political trick to not hold the DCC polls.

Giving the same reason, Dhaka University's law professor Asif Nazrul said delaying local government elections was a

violation of the constitution and human rights.

The five-yearly DCC election has been overdue since May 2007, while there has been no election to the zila parishads since the passage of the zila parishad act in 2000. The then government appointed administrators to 61 zila parishads in 2011 to run the institutions.

Since the absence of elected representatives is affecting local governance, democratic progress, and depriving people of services, the government must hold the polls immediately, the speakers said.

SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said the government split DCC into two in 2011 and was running them with unelected administrators to serve its "narrow" political interests. He demanded a new zila parishad act to hold the elections and run the institutions effectively.

Former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder claimed that it was wrong to blame the bureaucracy for the frailty of local government bodies. The administration must be controlled by political leadership and elected representatives, he said.

Former lawmaker SM Akram said the interference of local lawmakers in most activities of the local government bodies was a barrier to strengthening the institutions.

A written statement of eminent local government expert Dr Tofail Ahmed demanded reform in divisional and district level administrative systems.

Former justice Kazi Ebadul Hoque also spoke.