Appointing administrators to zilla parishads contradicts constitution: Sujan
The government's decision to entrust the administrative and financial authority of 61 Zila Parishads to chief executive officers (CEOs) or acting CEOs before the appointment of any administrator is contradictory to the constitution, Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik said Wednesday.
Sujan called upon the government to delegate the authority to elected representatives by arranging zilla parishad elections at the earliest possible time.
In a media statement issued by Sujan Chairperson M Hafiz Uddin Khan and Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder, Sujan said that the government took this decision as per the recently passed Zilla Parishad (Amendment) Bill-2022 despite objections from the opposition party and civil society.
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Referring to Section 11 of the constitution, the statement said that there is an instruction to ensure effective participation of people through their elected representatives in administration at all levels of the republic. As part of the state, there is no scope for the government to deviate from this principle in the case of the local government.
"That's why we think the decision to appoint administrator or CEO in absence of elected bodies is against the spirit of the constitution," the statement said.
Besides, according to Section 59 of the constitution, local government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected under law.
That's why it is again in violation of the instruction of the constitution to delegate the authority of such an important local government body as the zilla parishad to unelected persons, the media statement added.
"We think that arranging a timely election can be the solution instead of appointing administrators before the formation of the zilla parishad," the media statement said.
