Vol. 7 No. 10 July 2024
An Analysis of Two Local Government Elections Based on Party Affiliation in Bangladesh
Authors/ Publisher: 1. Saiful Islam 2. Md. Asaduzzaman Mondol Asad
Abstract:
The then-ruling parties in Bangladesh experimented with and utilized local government more frequently in the past (Sarker & Akber, 2016). Article 59 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh's constitution states, "local government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies composed of persons elected in accordance with law." Sarkar & Akber (2016) and Siddique (2005) note that since 1972, local government institutions have only existed continuously at the Union level. 1973 saw the nonpartisan holding of the country's first local government elections. All local government elections were non-partisan from the first day of Bangladesh's independence until the year 2015, despite the fact that there were many candidates with different political ideologies (Karim & Rashid, 2016). The government’s decision to hold local elections on party lines without consulting political parties or holding a referendum to measure public opinion (Sarker & Akber, 2016; Nath, 2015) has sparked a debate among politicians, local government experts, and other civil society groups. Politicians, local government experts, and other actors in civil society expressed their worry that the new system of partisan local government polls would undermine the long-standing value system at the local level (Sarker & Akber, 2016; Safi et al., 2015). In the old system, the Union Parishad Chairman and Members were elected based on their family background, tradition, and reputation for social work (Sarker & Akber, 2016).
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