Elections to Begin in Expired Local Government Bodies, Says Minister

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that elections will begin in local government institutions whose terms have already expired, with the two Dhaka city corporations likely to go to the polls first.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (February 24) at the Secretariat during a programme marking the joining of newly appointed administrators to six city corporations, the minister said the government’s main objective is to make all local government institutions functional through elections as quickly as possible.

He said priority will be given to Dhaka North City Corporation, Dhaka South City Corporation and Chattogram City Corporation in holding elections. The remaining city corporations, municipalities and other local government bodies will go to the polls in phases.

Although he did not specify a timeframe for completing the entire local government election process, Mirza Fakhrul described it as “a continuous process.” “Whether union parishad or upazila parishad—elections will be held in accordance with the rules once their terms expire,” he said.

On whether elections will be held under party symbols, the minister said the matter will be decided in Parliament during its first session. “There is no scope for my personal opinion on this. We have a party decision, and it will be determined in Parliament,” he said, adding that the first parliamentary session is scheduled to begin on March 12, where a final decision may be taken.

Regarding the appointment of political administrators instead of government officials in city corporations, Mirza Fakhrul said political administrators can ensure better service delivery through direct engagement with the public. He expressed the view that they would be more effective in reducing public suffering compared to bureaucrats. However, he reiterated that elections would be held first in the city corporations whose terms expire earlier.

State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shah-e-Alam echoed the remarks, saying that political administrators, due to their direct connection with citizens, would perform better than government officials in running city corporations. He said political administrators have been appointed to make inactive local government bodies functional.