BNP MP Harun walks out from JS protesting local govt amendment bill

BNP's Member of Parliament (MP) Harunur Rashid walked out of the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) protesting the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

The amendment bill was placed at the JS by Local Government Minister Tajul Islam and was passed with a voice vote on Thursday. 

Several lawmakers of the opposition opposed the bill which, according to the government, aims to strictly follow the system of holding municipality polls every five years.

The senior BNP lawmaker, claiming that those in favour of the bill could not provide answers to his queries, walked out of Parliament in protest.

However, after a brief break, he returned to today's (31 March) JS session. 

Speaking about the bill, Harun said, "Local government institutions are currently suffering from cancer. A lot of the representatives are elected unopposed. Many have been elected through questionable polls. 

"The general people, especially after 50 years of independence, didn't expect such a dire state of local government bodies."

He said, "The constitution mentions elected representatives at all levels. The government is responsible for failing to hold polls on time. This is being done on purpose to replace elected representatives with ruling party men."

The bill comes as a major blow to those who resort to different tactics to stay on as municipality chairmen for years -- some seek legal recourse at the end of their tenure to halt the holding of the next election. This way, few chairmen have stayed in office

for more than five years, up to even 15 years.

Once the amendments come into effect, the Act will empower the government to appoint an administrator after the term of a local government body expires. And the administrator will be able to remain in the post for a maximum of six months and hold elections by that time.

The Bill also intends to change the designation of the municipality member to municipal executive officer.

Furthermore, a clause in the Bill says that if any municipality fails to pay the salaries and other wages of its officers and employees for 12 months, then the government may abolish its status.

As per the Bill, a municipality can be established if the number of inhabitants every square kilometre is 2,000, from the earlier figure of 1,500.